Spanish Developer Colonial, The Next Martinsa Fadesa?

This week we see yet more doom and gloom emanating from sunny Spain in two hefty stories.

The first is regarding the ongoing process of sorting out developer Martinsa Fadesa. In a post on Saidiavacations.com by David Hewitt, Fadesa have failed to file it's half year accounts on time with the CNMV (The Spanish equivalent of the Financial Services Authority) with respect to it's finances. The reason for the delay apparently is two-fold, firstly Fadesa want the approval of the liquidators, and secondly "The chairman of the company, Fernando Martin, declared personal bankruptcy shortly after the company went into liquidation in an effort to separate his personal assets from those of the company." It is claimed that the filings will be made in "A few days more"

A few points of what this likely means to the everyday person out there once you read through the mumbo jumbo and take into account the "Spanish" take on things,

Fadesa wants approval of the liquidators - Likely to mean there is some shuffling to be done with respect to what is where on the finance front, and we have a lot of shredding to do.

Chairman of the company declared personal bankruptcy - Well as much as we don't enjoy kicking someone when they are down, but this could well mean that he knew it was coming, I mean how many billions in debt do you really need to be before the penny drops? Protection of personal assets is likely to be what that is about.

A few days more - Anyone who has lived in Spain has come across the word manana. Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean tomorrow, it means not today. It doesn't state when, just not today. If this is the literal translation of what has been said, then it will be a lot more than a few days before the CNMV get their papers!

Do note though, whilst all this is going on, Fadesa Maroc is still OK as far as we are aware, see our last post about the Morroccan arm of the company.

The second company with major interest is Colonial, they are off for a meeting with shareholders and creditors according to Reuters to have a chat about the possibility of a debt restructuring deal worth 8.9 Billion Euro, a right old tea party by the sounds of it with several major players involved, including RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) who's shares closed down 3.51% on Friday.

There are others involved in the talks, the likes of Goldman Sachs, as well as Banco Popular and La Caixa, which earned the equity after swapping some debt earlier this year. Some earning that was eh guys!

These two developers will not be the last, Colonial is making the best efforts possible to avoid liquidation, but this isn't likely to disappear over night unfortunately, after the developer bankruptcies, the agents will follow. Some are already in that particular cauldron steeping as we speak, Viva Estates, Ocean Estates, and Red Hot Homes for example. From what we hear, it is sadly unlikely that any will recover.

Having said all that, perhaps it is what the industry needs, a healthy cull within a much hyped business, where almost any Tom, Dick or Harry can set up shop and develop away, or flog houses to unsuspecting people, playing on the "left my brain at the airport" syndrome.

We are researching in depth into the number of developers and agents in main areas of Spain at present that have gone out of business in the past 6 months, and the results are staggering so far, rest assured we will post the report when we are done, and what you can do if you have been affected.