Macquarie Launches Fibra

Macquarie aims to raise more than $1bn in Mexico’s Fibra market through a transaction pricing December 6, according to regulatory documents. The Mexican arm of the Australian asset manager would raise MXP16.13bn ($1.2bn) if the 597.4m-share deal prices at the midpoint of a MXP25.00-MXP29.00 range and a 15% greenshoe is included. Macquarie is planning to put real estate assets into a fund to be capitalized through the REIT-like transaction, and use proceeds to acquire additional properties. The Macquarie Mexico Real Estate Unit already counts properties in 15 Mexican states. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BBVA, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are managing the transaction, which is part of a wave of recent deals being prepared in the asset class. Grupo GDI, scheduled to price Thursday, and Hoteles Prisma are both preparing hotel-focused Fibras. Issuers are spurred on both by a successful follow-on earlier this year from Fibra Uno, still the only completed Fibra, as well as optimism for Mexico’s economic development in the next few years, which will have particular advantages for the real estate sector.