In 1991, a 32-year-old young man from Gothenburg, Sweden, arrived in Portugal for what he thought would be a 2 year abroad experience. Three decades, thousands of sold properties, and a grown family later, Peter Billton is still living in Lisbon without any indication to leave. Portugal is his home!
In 1991 an adventurous young man first moved to Portugal to work as a manager for the Swedish company JM AB at their subsidiary real estate developer and agency, Mercator (By that time owned by JM). A few years later Peter Billton joined the Board of Directors of the Swedish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce.
"I remember the Expo World Fair "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future" in 1998, when the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, and Queen Silvia, visited the events organized by the CLS, a memorable moment. "
The first year of the 21st century was a decisive and hectic year for Peter. In one year he ended up both acquiring Mercator and becoming the President of the Swedish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. At the age of 40, he was the owner of a growing real estate company and President of CLS, meanwhile, his family was growing. Today Peter has 3 kids and 2 bonus kids, living in Sweden, Portugal, and Canada.
"When I started as President of the.CLS we were going through a paradigm shift. By that time Swedish companies had started to employ local competencies as Country Managers, instead of Swedish managers going abroad, As many times later we had to reinvent ourselves, we changed our organizational language to English and created relations with the Portuguese executives."
In 2023, Peter´s real estate agency, Mercator celebrated 50 years in Portugal. Mercator is focusing on medium-high and luxury segments. Since 2010 Mercator has worked with a constant presence in Sweden and Norway with teams and offices under the brands Portugal Maklarna (Sweden) and Portugal Megleren (Norway). The Mercator Group represents around 40% of Scandinavian investors who acquired in Portugal in the last decade, holding in some places around 80% of the market share, as is the case in the municipality of Cascais.
"We have as clients and partners the best to offer in the Portuguese real estate market, focusing on quality and future investment prospects. We never underestimate the soft values of moving to a new country. The property is just one part of the process. Together with our partnering companies, we prioritize giving the client a full-service experience guiding with the right neighborhood, schools, banks, taxes, etc. We are more than just a real estate agency."
Today Peter is still an active Board member of the Swedish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. Lastly, we asked Peter if he had any New Year´s resolutions.
"Work less being equally successful. I wish a great New Year to all our members of the CLS!"
