MADRID: A real estate investment trust, launched by Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi, has made its Spanish market debut at 57.4 euros per share, giving it a market capitalisation of 223 million euros ($232.12 million).
Messi, the Inter Miami player and former FC Barcelona forward, is named as chairman of Edificio Rostower Socimi's board in documents published by the Portfolio Stock Exchange, a European alternative market that is supervised by the Bank of Spain.
Edificio Rostower owns seven hotels in Spain and Andorra, three office spaces and five apartments in Spain, as well as apartments in London and Paris, the documents said.
Founded in 2013, the company posted a 1.7 million euro loss in 2023, according to records the Portfolio Stock Exchange published.
Edificio Rostower did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its stock market debut, which took place on Monday.
Most of the company's investments are in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where Messi, 37, moved in 2000 when he was 13 years old to join FC Barcelona's youth teams.
He lived there until 2021 when he unexpectedly left FC Barcelona to sign for Paris St Germain after the heavily indebted Catalan club said it could not afford to keep him because of La Liga's financial fair play rules.
The eight-times Ballon d'Or winner has long said he plans to return to live in Barcelona with his wife and three children after he retires from soccer.
Messi's wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, is the board's vice-president. The other members of the board are Alfonso Nebot, who runs Messi's family office, and Ramon Adell, who is a board member of Spanish energy company Naturgy. ($1 = 0.9607 euros) - Reuters
