Bouygues Immobilier buys Toulouse-based property developer Urbis - 21 July 2008

Bouygues Immobilier has completed its acquisition of Urbis by purchasing all the shares previously owned by its chief executive, José Hernandez.

Founded in 1998, Urbis is a renowned player in residential rental property investment in south-west France and particularly in the Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon regions. It sells about 300 premium housing units a year, and its sizeable property portfolio gives it excellent visibility.

This acquisition strengthens Bouygues Immobilier's position in the market in the South-West.

The Urbis brand and the company's identity will be kept independent of Bouygues Immobilier's Midi-Pyrénées-Languedoc-Roussillon regional division. Urbis will be managed by Philippe Poilleux, until now Bouygues Immobilier's director for this region, who was recently elected President of the Fédération des Promoteurs Construction for the region.

"After buying SLC (Société Lyonnaise pour la Construction) in 2004 and Blanc et Cie in 2007 – and despite the tightening market – Bouygues Immobilier is sticking with its carefully considered external growth policy based on the acquisition of superior local developers," says François Bertière, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues Immobilier. "This new acquisition is going to reinforce our position in the high-potential market in the South-West."