MILAN-The board of Italian listed real estate company Pirelli & C. Real Estate have approved a proposal to change the company’s name to Prelios, as the process of running down the group and disconnecting it from the tire maker parent Pirelli continues.
The group said the name change blends its roots and vision of the future, with the three initial letters ‘Pre’ recalling the concept of premium, while the future is represented by the use of the Greek word ‘helios’, referring to the sun. The name change will be submitted to the next shareholders’ meeting, and will take effect when the separation of Pirelli RE from its parent, announced in early May, is finalized.
The group’s board, headed by Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, also appointed Enrico Parazzini as MD Finance following the resignation of Claudio De Conto. Parazzini will join top management to work alongside the CEO Giulio Malfatto to ensure continuity in Pirelli RE’s financial management and support in the implementation of the business plan.
Because of losses incurred in the global financial crisis, the Pirelli restructuring targets a new business model which no longer entails proprietary investments. While in the past it took minority stakes in investments with the aim of benefiting from capital gains, since 2009, the group is moving to become a pure manager. It will continue to identify and manage investment opportunities for others while progressively reducing its own holdings. Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 2002, the firm has been an important player in real estate in Italy and Europe, and is active in Italy, Germany and Poland. Among its exposures is the German High Street portfolio of Karstadt department store assets, currently up for sale.
For first quarter, the group continued its net disposal program, reducing assets under management to $20 billion, of which nearly $18.2 billion are held in real estate and $1.8 billion in portfolios of non-performing property loans. It sold $178 million of assets in 1Q10, less than the $212 million in 1Q09 but further sales in April brought this year’s disposals to $486 million in total. Sales in April included the Grosse Strasse complex in Osnabruck, Germany for $40 million and Italia Turismo's real estate portfolio for $222 million, realized by selling the interest held in this company. Pirelli RE said it realized an average sales margin of about 5% on transactions in first quarter.
Allan Saunderson is a managing editor of Property Investor Europe and a contributor to GlobeSt.com.
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