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Corpfin Launches A Socimi That Will Invest €100M

22 April 2015 – Expansión

New Socimi / The real estate division of the Spanish fund manager has obtained €50 million from individual investors, including one from Abu Dhabi.

A new Socimi is preparing for its stock market debut. Its name is Corpfin Capital Prime Retail Assets, a vehicle created by the real estate division of the Spanish fund manager Corpfin Capital. “Since we created a specialist fund manager for the real estate sector in September 2008, our goal has been to create a vehicle and we think that a Socimi is the perfect formula for our investors”, says Javier Basagoiti, Managing Partner at Corpfin Capital Real Estate.

The new company will, in turn, channel the investments of two other Socimis: Corpfin Capital Prime Retail II (CCPR II) and Corpfin Capital Prime Retail III (CCPR III). The first company was created in September 2013 with capital of €30 million, and CCPR III was launched in 2013 with €20 million from small investors. “We have signed a co-inversion agreement, which gives us greater purchasing power”, says Basagoiti. The €50 million obtained (to date) will be supplemented with bank financing, which has already been committed, to take the total (funds available) to €100 million. “We are not listing to obtain financing, we already have funds. But we want to ensure that our vehicle has the greatest transparency possible”.

Listing on MAB

The new Socimi will make its stock exchange debut on MAB and will be dedicated exclusively to the management of commercial property. “We will not invest more than 15% or 20% of the total in a single asset. We prefer to diversify”.

For its IPO, which is scheduled for May, the fund already has assets worth more than €50 million. “We have already invested 56% of the funds. The objective is to invest 100% before August 2016, but I think we may have completed our purchases before Christmas”. All of the assets are retail premises located on the major streets of large capital cities, such as San Sebastian. In Madrid, they own properties on streets such as Serrano (where they own number 4, which they lease to the firm Hasteens), Fuencarral (where they have numbers 37 and 74), Goya and Velázquez. “The objective is to obtain an annual return of 15%. We are a firm that adds value; we do not buy properties that are already being rented out for a return of 6%, rather we focus on off-market transactions and we (actively) manage our assets”.

Unlike the Socimis that are already listed (on the stock exchange), the share capital of Corpfin Capital Prime Retail Assets will not be owned by large international funds or a single high profile shareholder, but instead by hundreds of smaller investors. “We are not going to have an “anchor” investor. We are a boutique Socimi, which is what our investors prefer”, explains Basagoiti. The contributions to the new Socimi range between €250,000 and €500,000 from small savers and between €1.5 million and €5 million from family offices. “90% of our investors are Spanish but we also have foreigners, for example, one investor from Abu Dhabi, who is contributing just over €6 million”. Moreover, the team at Corpfin Real Estate will also participate in the share capital. “The fund manager will acquire between 2% and ·3% of the Socimi’s capital, as a means of clearly demonstrating our commitment”.

Socimis for the acquisition retail premises is not Corpfin’s only plan. “The idea is to create more specialised listed companies. I think that prime areas in the residential sector are attractive, as are medium-sized retail spaces and offices, but not entire buildings, rather mix-used properties for SMEs.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake