(Bloomberg) -- Amancio Ortega more than doubled his money in three years on a rare foray outside of real estate, the usual focus of the billionaire’s personal investments.
Ortega’s investment firm, Pontegadea Inversiones, bought a 9.99% stake in Spain’s Telefonica SA’s tower unit in mid-2018 in a deal that valued Telxius Telecom SA at about 3.8 billion euros ($4.6 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. American Tower Corp. said Wednesday it’s paying 7.7 billion euros for about 70% of the unit’s assets, according to a Telefonica spokesman, giving the Zara founder a return of at least 103%.
“When Pontegadea entered into Telxius, the towers business wasn’t as interesting as it is now,” said Ignacio Cantos, investment director at ATL Capital in Madrid. “It’s proved to be a very good deal.”
A spokesman for Pontegadea declined to comment.
Ortega, 84, has traditionally diversified his fortune by plowing the proceeds of Zara parent Inditex SA into a growing global real estate empire. Since the retailer’s initial public offering in 2001, Ortega has received more than $9 billion of dividends, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Property Portfolio
Pontegadea publicly revealed its property holdings for the first time last year, giving Ortega the largest real estate portfolio among Europe’s super-rich, at 15.2 billion euros. The firm completed the purchase of a central London office building last month and counts landmarks such as Manhattan’s historic Haughwout Building among its previous purchases.
In 2019, the billionaire also bought a stake in natural-gas pipeline company Enagas SA. Operators of telecom towers and gas pipelines generally have predictable revenue and require relatively little investment once they are operative, characteristics that attracted Ortega.
The son of a railway worker, Ortega is Spain’s richest person with a fortune of $66.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His returns from the all-cash deal for Telxius Telecom’s masts division help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Inditex, which has been forced to shut stores. Ortega’s fortune sank by $9 billion last year, more than anyone else’s in the world.
Últimas Noticias
Debanhi Escobar: they secured the motel where she was found lifeless in a cistern
Members of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office in Nuevo León secured the Nueva Castilla Motel as part of the investigations into the case
The oldest person in the world died at the age of 119
Kane Tanaka lived in Japan. She was born six months earlier than George Orwell, the same year that the Wright brothers first flew, and Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
Macabre find in CDMX: they left a body bagged and tied in a taxi
The body was left in the back seats of the car. It was covered with black bags and tied with industrial tape
The eagles of America will face Manchester City in a duel of legends. Here are the details
The top Mexican football champion will play a match with Pep Guardiola's squad in the Lone Star Cup
Why is it good to bring dogs out to know the world when they are puppies
A so-called protection against the spread of diseases threatens the integral development of dogs
