MADRID (Reuters) – The real estate investment fund launched by Argentine football star Lionel Messi debuted on Monday on the European alternative market Portfolio Stock Exchange at 57.4 euros per share, giving it a market capitalization of 223 million euros.

Messi, current Inter Miami player and former FC Barcelona striker, is appointed chairman of the board of directors of Edificio Rostower Socimi, according to documents published by the Portfolio Stock Exchange, a European alternative market 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, according to the documents.

Most of his investments are in Catalonia, where Messi, 37, moved in 2000 when he was 13 to join FC Barcelona’s youth teams.

He lived there until 2021, when he unexpectedly left FC Barcelona to sign for Paris Saint-Germain after the heavily indebted Catalan club made it clear they could not afford to take him. keep due to La Liga Financial Fair Play rules.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has long said he planned to return to live in Barcelona with his wife and three children after retiring from football.

Edificio Rostower did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its stock market debut.

The company, founded in 2013, recorded a loss of 1.7 million euros in 2023, according to its available data published by Portfolio Stock Exchange.

Messi’s wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, is vice-president of the board of directors. Other board members are Alfonso Nebot, who heads Messi’s family office, and Ramon Adell, who is a board member of Spanish energy company Naturgy. .

(Report Joan Faus, Florence Loève, edited by Kate Entringer)

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