Batipart, the holding vehicle of Charles Ruggieri, founder of Fonciere des Regions (FdR), is to mount a full bid for Paris-listed group Eurosic after acquiring a 19.5% stake in the company as part of an investment consortium. Batipart led the consortium that has acquired housing firm Nexity's and Banque Palatine's 32.1% and 20.1% stakes in Eurosic.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Eurosic confirmed Batipart's intention to make a voluntary public takeover bid for Eurosic's capital at a price of EUR 34.30 per share. Its investment partners, Predica, Assurances du Crédit Mutuel Vie (ACM Vie) and Covea have taken control of 13%, 13% and 6.5% respectively. The companies have spent a total of EUR 319 mln on the stakes, reflecting a price per share of EUR 34.30.

Batipart first announced in May that it was in negotiations with the majority shareholders of Eurosic on a potential bid.

Eurosic has also announced the restructuring of a EUR 580 mln syndicated loan granted by Natixis and backed by the Avant-Seine building in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The company has paid back EUR 215 mln by setting up a five-year mortgage facility for the same amount. The balance of EUR 385 mln has been maintained with the same maturity of three years after the pool's banks agreed to amend the change of control clause resulting from the departure of Nexity Participations and Banque Palatine. These operations enable the company to extend the maturity of its overall debt by six months from 3.9 years to 4.5 years. The company's average cost of financing stands at 4.80%.

'I am delighted that leading investors in real estate investment able to develop the company have joined Eurosic's capital,' said Jean-Eric Vimont, Eurosic's Chairman and CEO.

Eurosic is a Paris-listed investment company focusing on big office properties in Paris with assets valued at EUR 1.4 bn.

The move by Batipart follows the sale at the end of last year of a significant part of its interest in French real estate investment trust FdR as part of an effort to focus on 'new projects more in line with the company's entrepreneurial view'. The buyers were Delfin - the holding company of Italian billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio - and insurance groups Predica and ACM Vie. Batipart reduced its stake from 11.5% to roughly 7%, selling nearly 1.4 million FdR shares representing a stake worth EUR 180 mln.

Founded in 1988 by Charles Ruggieri, Batipart is a family holding company operating mainly in the real estate and healthcare sectors.