Gecina is a residential and office focused real estate investment trust. Almost all of its business comes from France where it dominates the Paris market. Outside Paris it has traditionally been a large investor in Lyon. As of 2010 Gecina is reducing its interest in some business lines such as warehouses because of their limited market growth potential. The company has the third highest asset value among European REITs, largest French SIIC by market cap and second largest publicly tradedproperty company in France. 88% of business comes from only two of five business segments and in March 2010 it had a market cap of $6.6 billion. For the 2010 fiscal year 83% of rental revenue came from the Paris region, 15% from elsewhere in France and 2% from abroad. Leading revenue generating assets were offices followed by residential structures. Healthcare, logistics and hotels contributed a combined 15%. Gecina is a constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe index and a member of the European Public Real Estate Association.
History
Gecina was founded in 1959 as Groupement pour le Financement de la Construction, an SII focused on promoting housing development in Paris. SII was a relatively new concept invented by the French government in order to help companies interested in creating real estate but put off by French housing laws. Lenient buildings codes helped the company grow in the 1960s until new restrictions were introduced in the late 1970s. The 1990s were bittersweet, although the company faced increased competition and recessionary effects on the housing market, it made key acquisitions beginning with Groupement Français pour l'Investissement Immobilier in 1991, Foncina in 1997 and then Union Immobilier de France and La Foncière Vendôme. In 1993 a change in focus to commercial properties forced it to relinquish its status as an SII. In 2002 Gecina acquired real estate company Simco for 2.2 billion euro doubling its residential division.
Business
Most revenue comes from the renting and leasing of office space, residential, logistics business lines, hotels and healthcare facilities. The logistics business which markets itself as Gecilog added 122,900 square meters of property in Paris to its control in 2006. Business relating to healthcare is under the control of subsidiary Gecimed. The company was listed among the top 10 real estate companies in 2019. At the end of 2009 the company's main shareholders were Metrovacesa with 27%, former CEO M.Rivero, M. Soler and Predica which is the insurance division of Credit Agricole.
Properties in France
Here are some structures associated with Gecina. Some are part of its portfolio others were developed by the company. L'Angle - 11,000 m2 of office space, Ouest Park Sable sur Sarthe - 135,000m2 logistics business park, Private Hospital of the Estuary Le Havre Havre - Hospital with 356 beds, Champs-Élysées - Large office and retail building in Paris, Le Vivaldi - High end residential building, Khapa - multi use building, Trapèze Ouest complex - offices in the Trapèze Ouest area of Paris partnered with Hines Group which developed about two thirds of the 90,000 m2 of space.
