Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. may bid for Inmobiliaria Colonial SA, the Spanish real estate company that's lost about 60 percent of its market value in six months.

GE's plan, disclosed by the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company in a regulatory filing today, would be the second potential offer in a week for Colonial. The developer rose 1.3 percent, valuing the company at 2.5 billion euros ($3.6 billion). The shares have climbed 17 percent in the last three trading sessions.

By acquiring Colonial, GE would gain 12 billion euros of assets including offices and malls in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. Luis Manuel Portillo last month quit as Colonial's chairman after a slowdown in the property market caused shares of developers to slump.

``GE would be buying the company and its assets at a huge discount at the current market price,'' said Alberto Espelosin, who helps manage about $12 billion including Colonial shares at Ibercaja Gestion in Zaragoza. Spain.

Colonial shares climbed 2 cents, or 1.3 percent, to 1.52 euros in Madrid, where the benchmark IBEX index dropped 7.5 percent, its biggest one-day decline since August 1991. GE shares rose $1.10, or 3.3 percent, to $34.31 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Jan. 18. U.S. markets were closed today for Martin Luther King Day.

Four of the six analysts who cover Colonial, Spain's fourth-largest real estate company, have a ``sell'' rating on the stock.

Colonial hasn't received any official approach from GE and therefore cannot comment on a possible bid, said Maria Reventos, an external spokeswoman for Colonial.

Second Suitor

GE may face competition. Gecina SA, the largest publicly traded owner of offices in Paris, said Jan. 16 that it had held ``exploratory talks'' about a possible bid for Colonial.

In 2006, GE bought real estate from Valencia, Spain-based Astroc Mediterraneo SA for 650 million euros, doubling its property holdings in Spain. ``The office and logistics market in Barcelona is very attractive given a good outlook for rental growth and favorable economic perspectives,'' GE Real Estate Iberia said in a statement at the time.

Neither Xabier Barrondo, chief executive officer of GE Real Estate Iberia, nor Colonial Chief Executive Officer Mariano Miguel were immediately available to comment on the filing.

``The fact that GE is studying the company is positive,'' said Francisco Salvador, a director at Venture Finanzas SA in Madrid. ``Reaching an agreement with shareholders may be difficult, though.''

Spain's top four publicly traded real estate companies have in total lost more than 10 billion euros in market value in the past year on concern that rising borrowing costs will hamper growth. Colonial has net debt of about 8.9 billion euros, according to its Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon Smyth in Madrid at ssmyth2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 21, 2008 16:18 EST