Avintia Puts 75% Of Property Developer Aelca Up For Sale

11 March 2016 – El Confidencial

The construction company Avintia is looking for a buyer for the 75% stake that it holds in Aelca, the young Madrilenian property developer founded by Javier Gómez Fernández and José Juan Martín Montes. According to market sources, the sales process – which was launched a few months ago – is now quite advanced and several important investment funds have been participating in it. Morgan Stanley, amongst others, exited the process because it rejected the vendor’s demand for purchase exclusivity. Sources at Aelca declined to comment on the matter.

The businessman Antonio Martín Jiménez, founder of Avintia, has decided to sell his stake in the company at a time when the recovery of the residential market is already a reality in Madrid and when many investment funds have fully launched themselves into property development in our country and, in particular, in the capital.

Funds such as Lone Star, Castlelake, Värde, Cerberus, HMC, Kennedy Wilson and Pimco are just a few examples of large international investors that have decided to enter this market. In particular, Castlelake, which has a sizeable portfolio of land in Madrid after acquiring Project Crossover from Sareb, has chosen Aelca as its local partner for the launch and marketing of several residential projects.

A year ago, José Juan Martín, the CEO of Aelca, explained its partnership with that fund. “We are working with them in Valdemarín (see above), in Madrid, on a development containing 32 homes. We are also working with them on the promotion of 90 homes in Hospitalet, in Barcelona, whilst in Estepona, we have a project with them involving 70 secondary residence homes”. (…).

Created in 2007

Avintia, is a 100% Spanish company, created in 2007, which specialises in public and private construction projects. (…). Eight companies operate under its umbrella: Avintia (construction), Aelca (property development), ADI (real estate development), Brick O’clock (services), Adh (hotel development), Avora (international business in Colombia), Avintia Empresas (development of tertiary industrial properties) and Avintia Racing, the company that owns a Moto GP team. In 2008, at the height of the crisis, the parent company recorded revenues of €110 million, whilst in 2015, its forecast turnover amounted to €400 million.

Aelca, the group’s property developer arm, has a strong presence in the residential market in Madrid: 18 of its 24 developments are situated in the Community of Madrid. Its most high profile projects are located in Boadilla del Monte, Aravaca and La Tablas, areas where the recovery in the real estate sector and prices is already a reality.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake