A year after fleeing Spain as its economy tottered on
the brink of a full-blown sovereign bailout, foreign investors are
coming back.
The prospect of relatively high returns in a eurozone
economy emerging from recession with a strong corporate presence in
Latin America is apparently proving irresistible.
Among the latest
converts, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates snapped up in September a
5.7-percent stake in Spanish construction and services group FCC for 108
million euros ($147 million).
News of the US billionaire's
decision sent FCC stock surging more than 10 percent in a single day and
made headlines in the Spanish media.
"Foreign investment is
returning to Spain," said state secretary for business Jaime Garcia
Legaz as he presented a report last month on sovereign funds by the
Spanish business school ESADE.
"They are expecting a Spanish economic recovery," he added.
"It is clear that the perception of Spain has changed. It is improving week by week."
Spain
would enjoy a surplus in its current account -- the broadest measure of
trade including financial flows -- equal to two percent of its economic
output at the end of this year, he forecast.
That would be a far
cry from the 10-percent current account deficit Spain posted in the
depth of the financial crisis, which erupted in 2008 after the collapse
of a decade-long property bubble.
Between January and August this
year, foreigners ploughed nearly 19 billion euros in net direct
investments into Spain, twice as much as they had in the same period a
year earlier.
The money is welcome in a country gingerly emerging
from a two-year recession as it narrows its public deficit, boosts
competitiveness and struggles with a jobless rate of 25.98 percent.
"The
Spanish market is regaining its attraction," said France's ambassador
to Spain, Jerome Bonnafont, describing the change as "a turning point".
"There
is a clear increase in spontaneous questions from French companies
about Spain," said Richard Gomes, local director of Ubifrance, an
organisation that helps French firms to operate internationally.
Sovereign
funds are banking on Spain, too, showing particular interest in
companies that have a strong presence in Latin America, according to the
ESADE study.
Among the most emblematic investments, Singaporean
sovereign fund Temasek has ploughed money into Repsol, and Abu Dhabi's
IPIC is now the full owner of Spanish petroleum and gas group Cepsa.
Maria
Victoria Zingani, financial director at another Spanish oil giant,
Repsol, said Temasek had also approached her company in 2012 as it
toured Southeast Asia to lure foreign investors. Today the fund, which
has visited Repsol installations in Brazil and Bolivia, holds a
6.23-percent stake in the group.
Sovereign funds are looking for
highly diversified companies with long-term growth prospects and a
presence in Latin America, she said.
"It is a phenomenon that is growing and will continue to grow," said ESADE professor Javier Santiso.
The ESADE study identified 82 sovereign funds in the world with total assets of more than $5.5 trillion.
After
initially targeting infrastructure and energy industries, they are
increasingly looking at the new technology sector while also casting a
cautious eye at property, Santiso said.
According to the ESADE
study, Asian funds especially from Singapore and China are emerging as
the big investors in Spanish companies, a change from just two years ago
when Arab funds, in particular Qatar Holdings, were the leaders.
Qatar
Holdings took stakes of more than six percent in Banco Santander and
energy group Iberdrola, spending more than $2 billion on each investment
as it banked on their strong presence in Brazil. It is now the main
shareholder in Iberdrola with 8.18 percent of the company.
"Sovereign
funds anticipated the return of foreign investors, betting on Spain
since 2011," said Antonio Hernandez, analyst at financial advisory group
KPMG, predicting they would continue to do so in 2013.
Source: au.news.yahoo.com
CALPE was named the ideal site for the deepest swimming pool in the world.
The Oceanus 51 group announced its choice of location during the Mediterranean Dive Show held recently in Calpe.
The 51-metre deep pool is the brainchild of Calpe diver Julio Parra
who revealed that the Marina Alta town and its tourist infrastructure
provide an ideal setting for the project.
The Calpe pool, designed to represent a cave, would be 18 metres deeper than the Nemo 33 pool in Brussels.
“Calpe is definitely our first option. Now we must get this across to the town hall ,” Parra said.
The pool, entirely funded by private investment will cost between €5
and €6 million but the town hall would have nothing to pay, according to
Parra. All Oceanus 51 requires is approximately 3,000 square metres
of municipal land for the pool and its installations for which it would
pay ground rent.
The project would bring around 300,000 divers and the families to
Calpe each year, the diver predicted and would low-season tourism.
“Divers would come year-round,” Parra pointed out.
Source: euroweeklynews.com