Spanish watchdog says Rayet need not bid for Afirma

MADRID, April 16 (Reuters) - Spain's stock market watchdog said on Wednesday that property firm Grupo Rayet will be exempt from launching a buy-out offer for Afirma (AFRA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), previously known as Astroc, after a three-way merger left it with a 40 percent stake.

A merger between companies owned by Rayet, Landscape and Afirma was completed last month.

Under Spanish law, Rayet might have been liable to make a full bid, having taken its stake to more than 30 percent. Grupo Rayet now owns 40.3 percent of the merged company.

In a statement to regulator CNMV, Grupo Rayet said it should not have to make a full bid because the merger was carried out for industrial reasons, not in order to take control.

Afirma's other main shareholders are CV Capital -- owned by Astroc's former chairman Enrique Banuelos -- with 17 percent and Grupo Nozar -- also a major shareholder in Colonial (COL.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) -- with 15 percent.

Afirma is the latest in a series of property companies clubbing together to gain size as the Spanish real estate market brakes hard after a decade of rapid growth. (Reporting by Joe Ortiz, editing by Will Waterman)