Alfil Group Makes Historic Debut on Madrid Stock Exchange
María Isabel Palma marked the occasion by ringing the bell at the Madrid Stock Exchange. The Alfil Group has entered the stock market through BME Scaleup with the symbolic bell ringing, becoming the first company founded and headquartered in Marbella to be listed on the stock exchange. Francisco Gómez Palma, the president of Alfil Patrimonial, has described the day as “historic” both for the company and the family.
Alfil Group: The First Company to Join Scaleup
The company is the first to join Scaleup, the new market aimed at emerging companies of the Spanish Stock Exchanges and Markets (BME). It entered with a reference price of 7,350 euros per share, implying a total company valuation of 73.5 million euros and has started its stock market listing with the code SCALF.
María Isabel Palma: A Pillar of Strength
Gómez expressed his gratitude to his mother, María Isabel Palma, honorary president of the company, who “at nearly 99 years old has been a fundamental pillar in making this decision”. He added that she understood from the very beginning what this step meant for the family and the company, which was founded in 1952. Both participated in the traditional bell ringing at the Madrid Stock Exchange.
Alfil Group: More Than Just a Company
“Over the years, we have built more than a company, we have built a great community, a large family with our human capital, united by a common vision and a commitment to the pursuit of excellence,” Gómez noted. For the company, this step signifies “opening the doors to a new chapter of opportunities and growth, all without leaving behind our values”.
Alfil Group’s IPO: A Milestone for All
Gómez emphasized that “our IPO is not only a milestone for us as a company, but also for all the people who have contributed to our success, our employees, our customers, our suppliers and, of course, our families.”
Alfil Group: A History of Diverse Activities
After 72 years of history dedicated to various activities, for more than two decades, Alfil’s main activity has been to make its real estate assets profitable. For this reason, a year and a half ago, and after the entry of members of the third generation into the company’s management positions, Alfil decided to group most of these real estate assets into a single company and adopt the Socimi regime.
Why BME Scaleup?
“Among the options of markets to list, we saw that BME Scaleup is the one that best suits our needs for two reasons,” Gómez pointed out. The first is that “our company is a family business with a very consolidated business with more than a dozen profitable assets and growth expectations, with very low bank debt and a credit score of nine out of ten”. He added that these factors, along with the fact of listing in Madrid and not outside Spain, and the prestige of BME compared to other markets, open up enormous possibilities for raising capital for other projects that we have in the pipeline in the medium term.
BME: A Safety Umbrella
Secondly, Gómez explained that “the umbrella of BME gives us the security to access larger markets whenever the appropriate circumstances arise, which we are convinced will happen in the future”.
