HispanicBusiness

Spanish real estate giant Reyal Urbis said Tuesday it had filed for insolvency after failing to renegotiate a debt of 3.6 billion euros (4.7 billion dollars) with its creditors.

If final negotiations to reach a deal fail, the company faces the second-largest bankruptcy ever in Spain after that of Martinsa-Fadesa, another victim of Spain's 2008 property crash. It was unable to repay 7 billion euros in debt that year.

Reyal Urbis manages housing, offices, business premises, hotels and land in more than 20 localities in Spain and Portugal. Its property portfolio was worth 4.2 billion euros in 2012.

The company's creditors include a group of Spanish banks; funds; the Finance Ministry; and Sareb, a bad bank created by the government to absorb banks' toxic real estate assets.

Reyal Urbis said it was still hoping to reach an agreement with its creditors and to halt the bankruptcy proceedings. The company, with 420 employees, will continue operating for the time being.

Spain's property crash knocked down dozens of companies. It left the market burdened with hundreds of thousands of unsold homes and banks encumbered with tens of billions of euros' worth of sour assets.