175 sicavs sell all their shares in the owner of Quirónsalud after the coronavirus crisis

As of March 31, just after the arrival of the coronavirus in Europe, 175 sicavs had sold all their titles from the German private healthcare giant, Fresenius, owner in Spain of Quirónsalud, according to the data that these companies have just communicated. to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

At the end of 2019, more than 500 sicavs had titles in that company and in its subsidiary of medical equipment and in the French Orpea and Korian (dedicated to the business of nursing homes). In March, 331 had reduced their exposure to those three companies, European leaders of two businesses that (especially in the case of nursing homes) have been hit by this health emergency.

The decrease is mainly explained by the dispersal of sicavs in the subsidiaries of private health and medical equipment of Fresenius, a company that last year led a global scandal after recognizing that had bribed doctors in various countries (Spain included) to obtain privileged information in public tenders. In March, after a week of historic falls in the stock markets, the group, whose price (in the case of the hospital leg) has fallen 21% since January, came to deny the "rumors about nationalization"of the sector in Spain, after assuming the Government the sole command of the health system to deal with the emergency of COVID-19.

As of December 31, about 20% of the sicavs active in Spain, 517 companies, had titles (shares or debt) of Fresenius and Orpea and Korian, with an investment of 55.4 million, of which 96% were in the Germanic group. Their exposure to these three companies (the weight they assumed in their portfolio) was 1.08%. As of March 31, those same sicavs had come to have an exposure of only 0.35% in those companies and the value of their investment had plummeted to 30.1 million. 28.22 million were in Fresenius. In that period, the assets of the Spanish sicavs fell 14.3%, to 25,242 million, according to the analysis firm VDOS.

The drop is largely explained by the spread of positions in the German company, in which 175 sicavs have sold their titles in the first quarter. Of the half a thousand sicavs, another 154 have reduced the weight of these companies in their portfolio, while 182 have raised it.

Among those who have left Fresenius stand out Universal de Inversiones and Rex Royal Blue, of the Bonet family, closely linked in the past to the private healthcare business through the Valencian Nisa group, acquired in 2017 by Vithas, from the Gallardo family. Those two sicavs have settled 2,194 million in German group titles.

They have also left Fresenius, among others, Syriane Capital, indirectly controlled by the founder of the shoemaker Pikolinos, Juan Manuel Perán, and which had 414,000 euros; or Romero Inversiones Mobiliario sicav, with 351,000 euros, and which according to its latest accounts is controlled by a foundation, the Fuentes Dutor, close to the University of Navarra (of Opus Dei).

It has also shelved its investment in the owner of Quirónsalud Patricompa, chaired by Bosco González del Valle and Chávarri, founder of EDT enventos, one of the most important events and communication agencies in Spain (192,000 euros as of December); and Uro Inversiones, chaired by Íñigo Argamasilla de la Cerda and Antonio, Marquis of Santacara, and who had 176,000 euros, which at the end of 2019 represented 3.18% of his portfolio.

The same investment was made by Montbore Sicav, from the Amúnarriz family, owner of the Basque paper mill Aralar; and 119,000 euros had BMS Blue Chips, from the Lafuentes, founders of the food group Frudesa and the chocolate company Natra and who appeared on the Falciani List with more than 17 million in Switzerland.

Other notable Fresenius outlets are those of Alderete, the sicav of former Defense Minister Eduardo Serra (127,000 euros), advisor to the biotech Pharmamar, one of the few Spanish companies that go public this year thanks to his promises about a possible treatment for COVID-19; Rita Investimento, chaired by retired physician and winemaker Pedro Martínez (had 138,000 euros) or Dicastillo Inversiones, managed by the Lambiés family, former owners of the Valencian tableware manufacturer Porvasal. They had 102,000 euros, 2.83% of their portfolio.

Among those who had less than 100,000 euros in the owner of Chiron, Inversiones Gelma, from the owners of the Tolsa mining company (47,000 euros); the Gijón Sicav Tram Company (32,000 euros), chaired by Romualdo Alvargonzález Figaredo, cousin of Rodrigo Rato and of the family that owns the shipping company Ership, and with Jacobo Cosmen (from the family that owns Alsa) on its board; Rodasil, by former soccer player Roberto Carlos (21,000 euros); or Rodavi, from the owners of the Facundo pipes (19,000 euros), who received the 2012 tax amnesty and whose patriarch, Vicente Villagrá, died in March with a coronavirus.

Residences

Among the sicavs that have reduced their exposure to Orpea and whose shareholders or owners are known (many sicavs hide their owners in their accounts) is Tempera. Chaired by Ángeles Aristrain, daughter of the late industrialist José María Aristrain (whose offshore fabric with help from a former minister of the dictator Francisco Franco revealed the investigation of Los Papeles de la Castellana), its investment has gone from 80,000 to 67,000 euros; Morcuera, chaired by Antonio Bonet, president of the Exporters Club, has reduced it from 98,000 to 82,000 euros, although it still has a high weight in its portfolio: 3.45%.

They have also lowered their exposure to Orpea (up to 52,000 euros) the Chulapico sicav (from a branch of the family that owns BH bicycles), which has also left Fresenius; Or Tagalo de Inversiones, whose adviser is former President of Amper Jaime Espinosa de los Monteros Pitarque. His investment in the French group has gone from 33,000 to 24,000 euros.

In Korian, Valeria Victrix, of the Batalla family (builders who were linked with the illegal financing of the Valencian PP), which has grown to 59,000 euros, compared to 74,000 in 2019; and Sauce Valores, owned by a charitable foundation named after one of the founders of Catalana Occidente, the Fundació Antoni Serra Santamans. His investment in Korian has gone from 95,000 euros to 64,000 in three months.

Some sicavs have increased their commitment to this sector. One of the largest in Spain stands out, Swift Inversiones, of Leopoldo del Pino, a shareholder of Ferrovial. It has raised its investment in Orpea by almost 5%, to 955,000 euros, while in Fresenius it has reduced it by 6.8%, to 903,000 euros. Brent Inversiones, from a branch of the Hinojosa family (former owners of Cortefiel), has left Fresenius (had 233,000 euros) and has put 101,000 euros in Korian.

Among those who have opted for the German group are two chaired by private education magnate Jesús Núñez Velázquez, founder of the Alfonso X el Sabio University, valued last year at some 1,000 million, after the entry into its shareholding of the fund of CVC venture capital. These are Fernanflor de Inversiones and Fomento de Ahorros e Inversiones, which have increased their Fresenius portfolio by 13.6%, to 1.193 million.

Another example is Valores del Principado SA, chaired by José Antonio Pérez Nievas, former executive of Ceselsa (one of the companies that gave rise to Indra), and which has increased its investment in Fresenius from 301,000 euros in December to 339,000 in March. It is one of the sicavs with the most exposure to this company: 3.51% of its portfolio.

Above that percentage are others such as Capquers Inversiones (4.36%), chaired by Felipe Galán, former director of the Cofrentes nuclear power plant and shareholder of the Alestis aerospace group; Ballymore, chaired by the director of Sacyr Ramiro Ferrero (4.38%); Inversiones Larisa, chaired by the Valencian logistics businessman Rafael Milla (5.49%) and Suntan Sicav, who has almost 9% of his portfolio in Fresenius. It is unknown who are the shareholders of Suntan, which in 2018 had 87% of its titles in the hands of a single person. Its president is a lawyer from the Ramón y Cajal law firm who holds that position in six sicavs and is a secretary in more than 200 companies of this type.