The purchase price was 1.10 euros (US$1.19) per share, significantly higher than the 1.06 euros (US$1.15) at which Realia is currently traded.

Carlos Slim, the Mexican businessman who took control of Spanish construction company FCC in 2016, has increased his equity in real estate developer Realia, now controlling 92.3% of shares after acquiring 15% from Polygon fund. 

Specifically, as Realia has reported to the National Securities Markets Commission (CNMV), the businessman purchased 84.2 million shares through FCC and another 41 million shares through his company Finver Inversiones.

The purchase price was 1.10 euros (US$1.19) per share, significantly higher than the 1.06 euros (US$1.15) at which Realia is currently traded. The deal is worth 138 million euros (US$ 150 million).

Realia is already integrated into FCC's development business and its future could involve a merger with Metrovacesa, another Spanish developer in which Slim controls 21% shares and in which he has already tried to increase ownership, although he has come across the blockage of other shareholders, mainly BBVA and Santander.

The Realia move marks the strategy that Slim could want to replicate in Metrovacesa, after displacing Polygon, the last major Realia shareholder in order to gain almost exclusive control.

In Metrovacesa, Slim could start by buying 20.8% of BBVA's shares for 237 million euros (US$ 257 million) - according to its current price of 7.5 euros (US$ 8.1) per share - although it will be more difficult to convince Banco Santander, which controls 49.4% of Metrovacesa's equity.