A real estate investment trust (REIT) launched by Argentine football legend Lionel Messi has debuted in the Spanish market, priced at 57.4 euros per share, giving it a market capitalization of 223 million euros ($232.12 million).
Messi, currently with Inter Miami and a former FC Barcelona star, is listed as chairman of the board for Edificio Rostower Socimi, according to documents filed with the Portfolio Stock Exchange, a European alternative market regulated by the Bank of Spain.
Edificio Rostower owns seven hotels in Spain and Andorra, three office spaces, five apartments in Spain, and additional 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 published by the Portfolio Stock Exchange.
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 at age 13 to join FC Barcelona’s youth teams.
He lived there until 2021, when he unexpectedly left FC Barcelona to sign with 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-time Ballon d’Or winner has long stated that he plans to return to live in Barcelona with his wife and three children after retiring from football.
Messi’s wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, is the board’s vice president. The other board members are Alfonso Nebot, who runs Messi’s family office, and Ramon Adell, a board member of Spanish energy company Naturgy.