El Corte Inglés paid EUR 500 million for the acquisition of half of Al Thani’s shares

What: The final amount that El Corte Inglés paid for the acquisition of half of its stores has risen to EUR 500 million, including compensation and interest. 

Why it is important: With this transaction, the department store group acquired 4.2 million shares, which meant 5.53% of the group’s capital, half of the 10.33% that AI Thani came to own. 

El Corte Inglés repurchased half of its shares in the group from Qatari investor Al Thani in 2022. The operation was originally valued at EUR 385 million, but the final amount has increased to EUR 500 million to include compensation and interest. 

EUR 115 million has been added to the price, mostly as compensation to Primefin, the Luxembourg company through which Al Thani owned shares, after granting a loan of EUR 1 billion to El Corte Inglés in 2015.