Month: April 2018

GreenOak Raises €650 Million to Invest in Real Estate

27 April 2018

The real estate investor GreenOak has finalised the closing of its second European real estate vehicle, GreenOak Europe Fund II, with an eye mainly on Spain. Thus, with a total of 656 million euros of committed capital, the firm has exceeded its goal of raising 500 million euros and expects to allocate at least 60% of the total to real estate purchases in Spain.

The rest of the money will be invested in real estate opportunities in other Western European countries such as Italy, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Ireland.

The capital comes from institutional investors in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East; notably from large corporate and government pension funds, endowments, foundations and institutional family offices.

In addition to raising 656 million euros for its Europe Fund II, GreenOak committed another 185 million euros of co-investment capital from investors in the fund and had another 70 million euros of additional co-investment capital to deploy in its European strategy.

This way, the new fund, which can leverage itself up to 65%, will have the capacity to acquire or develop real estate in the amount of 2.600 billion euros.

The vehicle is eying offices, logistics assets, residential projects, commercial and hotel assets, as well as land to develop. The fund specialises in value-added operations.

Almost €600 million in 20 transactions

To date, the fund and its co-investors have committed more than 567 million euros in more than 20 transactions in Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands, for a total value of more than 1.8 billion euros. According to the company, “the majority of the portfolio has been acquired in off-market operations with discounts with regards to the market and replacement prices and has been invested in cities considered gateways in Europe, specifically Madrid, Milan, Barcelona and Paris, as well as key logistics nodes in Europe. ”

This fund is part of GreenOak’s growing European real estate strategy, after the first fund (GreenOak Europe Fund I) invested in Spanish and Italian assets between May 2015 and July 2016. The fund has already returned 75% of the capital committed achieving leverage of 50%.

Since 2011, GreenOak has raised 6.500 billion euros from institutional investors for loans and real estate investments in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Original Story: ElEconomista.es – Alba Brualla

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Bankia Transfers the Management of its Real Estate Portfolio to Haya Real Estate

27 April 2018

The agreement affects properties worth a total of 5.400 billion euros. Haya will handle Bankia’s current portfolio and any new assets that may be added in the future. Cerberus’ real estate manager already manages Liberbank and Cajamar’s real estate holdings.

Bankia has entrusted Haya Real Estate, the Cerberus fund’s real estate management company with full management of its real estate assets, including those from Banco Mare Nostrum (BMN). Both companies signed new agreements for the management of real estate and credit assets and the provision of services to replace those already signed in September 2013.

Likewise, Bankia reported that it had included the management contracts for unpaid debts and certain real estate assets owned by BMN at the time.

Haya Real Estate will handle all of Bankia’s current stock of assets, as well as any new assets that the financial institution may acquire in the future. As reported by the bank, the agreement currently affects a portfolio worth a total of 5.4 billion euros.

Bankia added that this operation would not have an impact on the group’s accounts. With this transaction, the financial institution concludes the reorganisation of its real estate business and unpaid debts ” to increase efficiency after its merger with BMN.”

Currently, Haya also manages a package of 52,000 loans from Sareb and exclusively sells real estate and developer loans to Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar. It also exclusively manages Liberbank’s real estate holdings.

The bank chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri presented its accounts for the first quarter of 2018 this Friday. The bank saw profits fall by 25% due to the absence of extraordinary items and the merger with BMN. Specifically, the company achieved an attributable profit of 229 million euros, compared to €304 million in the same period in 2017.

Agreement With BBVA

In addition to this agreement with Bankia, Cerberus will finalise the purchase of 80% of BBVA’s real estate business next September, for around 4 billion euros, according to the fund’s financial director, Jaime Sáenz de Tejada. In total, Cerberus will acquire some 78,000 real estate assets with a book value of approximately 13 billion euros and the assets and employees necessary for its management.

Original Story: Bolsamanía – Virginia Palomo

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Socimi Lists its €46-Million Portfolio of Homes and Land in Madrid

27 April 2018

The countdown has started for Spain’s stock exchange to become home to a new real estate investment company listing. AP67 has received the approval to start trading on the Mercado Alternativo Bursátil (MAB).

Although the exact date of the listing is still unknown, the socimi will debut at a price of 6.65 euros per share and a market value of about 34 million euros.

The vehicle is specialised in the residential sector and has residential buildings, one residential plot of land, two industrial plots of land and several commercial premises. All the assets are located in the municipality of Leganés (Madrid) and have a market value of €46.5 million, according to calculations by the appraiser Gesvalt.

The two most valuable assets in its portfolio are a residential building and a housing development that is currently under construction: between them, they total 25.8 million euros, more than half of the total.

There are several major shareholders behind the vehicle: the minority interests that the MAB requires for a listing, as well as the architects Álvaro Rubio Garzón and Francisco Escudero López, who control more than 90% of the capital. According to the document published by the MAB, both created a property management company in 2001, based on real estate development for rental in the area of Leganés, “specifically in the main streets of the urban centre, in locations near the Universidad Carlos III and industrial property in the suburbs.”

AP67 will be added to the fifty-one socimis that are already present in the MAB and to the sector’s main players, which are on the Ibex 35 and the continuous market: Merlin Properties, Colonial, Axiare, Hispania and Lar. In its debut, the company will be advised by the registered adviser Armabex. The Renta 4 bank will act as a liquidity provider.

Original Story: Idealista

Photo: Gtres

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Defence Sells a Plot of Land Next to Castañón de Mena for Nearly €4 Million

27 April 2018

The sale is awaiting a final adjudication. The plot, in Hacienda Cabello, has 6,000 meters and a development potential of 8,572 meters.

The Ministry of Defense has put two properties on sale in recent months in Malaga’s capital, and both transactions are nearing a conclusion as they come close to completing the formal procedure of final adjudication. On the one hand, the divestment of the former Military Government building, located on the Paseo de la Farola, is going through a process of analysis of the documentation that was submitted by a company that made an offer to acquire the property at the end of last January by direct sale, with an assigned value of about 4.5 million euros. On the other hand, the ministry has just finalised the adjudication of a 6,036.24-square-meter plot of land in Hacienda Cabello, next to the Castañón de Mena residence, for almost 4 million euros.

The estate has an allocated residential development potential of 8,572.97 meters. The Institute for Housing, Infrastructure and Defense Equipment (Invied) confirmed the conclusion of the sale, although the sources consulted declined to provide official details of the sale value, as the adjudication has been awarded on an interim basis, and still requires the completion of the corresponding procedures.

The financial value related to this sale confirms that it would have been in a second auction. The estate’s exit value amounted to 4,431,860.23 euros, falling to 3,988,674.21 euros in the case of a second round. The property is in the vicinity of the military residence Castañón de Mena. According to the information sheet incorporated by Invied, the plot of land was awarded to the Ministry of Defence within the sector’s subdivisioning project, and the development works were already underway, with 14% completed up to the present moment. The development works were awarded by the Compensation Board to a temporary joint venture (UTE) composed of Dragados-Ervega-Insersa, with an initial budget of 4,744,075 euros (VAT excluded), an amount which was increased by another 551,825 euros in October 2017.

Original Story: Málaga Hoy – S. Sánchez

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Grupo Arenal Acquires Banesto’s Former HQ in Bilbao for €6M

26 April 2018 – El Correo

Onwards and upwards. Bizkaia is continuing to form the backdrop to some of the country’s most high profile real estate transactions. Following the placement on the market of BBVA’s old skyscraper for €100 million and the Ballonti commercial mega-centre in Portugalete for €150 million, big-name investment funds have put Bilbao in their line of fire once again for large operations that mix financial, commercial and real estate interests.

The most recent major intervention has been undertaken by three players. The international consultancy firm Catella has brokered the sale of Banesto’s former headquarters, located at number 3 Calle Navarra. The perfume company Grupo Arenal has acquired the historical building, which has been closed for several years following the cessation of the bank’s activity. The Galician firm has made the disbursement for the property, which spans 2,500 m2 and is spread over three floors.

According to experts in the sector, the operation has been closed for a sum of around €6 million, a figure on which sources at Catella declined to comment yesterday. The consultancy firm, one of the most important in Europe and founded by the owner of Ikea, who ended up selling it to a fund, has served as a bridge between Grupo Arenal, which had been studying the Bilbao market for years, and the former owners of the iconic building. The building previously belonged to a family office of the Invivas Group, owned by the Bilbao-based businessman Sabino Arrieta Heras.

To a certain extent, this operation breaks the mould of the recent sales and purchases carried out in Bilbao. To date, most of the acquisitions have involved local investment funds, which follow very closely the few buildings that become free in the city. The amount disbursed by Grupo Arenal is slightly lower than the figure agreed two weeks ago by the Governing Board of the Town Hall of Bilbao to acquire the largest Zara store in Euskadi and use it for the future expansion of the Basque Museum.

The PNV and PSE approved the payment of €5 million – divided into equal parts by the Town Hall and the Diputación de Bizkaia – for a store measuring just over 1,900 m2 on Calle La Cruz, owned by a company chaired by the wife of the Inditex founder.

A 70m-long façade

The arrival of Grupo Arenal has fulfilled the expectations of all the parties involved. Santander has freed itself of a property for which it was paying a sizeable rent, even though it was empty, and the perfume brand is ensured a shop window that measures more than 70m in a retail area that is very much on the rise (…).

The megastore, whose neighbours will include Starbucks, will soon open its second store in the Vizcaya capital, as it seeks to take advantage of the future “commercial pull” of Primark, which is going to occupy five floors of BBVA’s tower and the arrival of TAV. It is also hoping to benefit from its proximity “to major fashion operators, such as El Corte Inglés, Inditex and Mango” (…).

The perfume brand is going to use Bilbao as a “strategic” axis in its expansion plans, which involve increasing its revenue to €150 million and growing the number of points of sale from 40 to 60 by 2020.

Original story: El Correo (by Luis Gómez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Evaluates the Sale of its RE Arm Solvia

26 April 2018 – Intereconomía

Banco Sabadell is evaluating the sale of Solvia, its real estate subsidiary. There has been no shortage of offers given that Blackstone, Cerberus and Lone Star have all expressed their interest. The value of the company was €900 million in 2015, but that figure could now be higher due to the rise in market prices.

The CEO of Banco Sabadell, Jaime Guardiola, said during the presentation of results for the first quarter, where he announced that Sabadell had earned €259.3 million, up by 32.7%, that the entity has no “vocation” to dedicate itself to the real estate sector, but rather the banking sector, and so “when the time is right and an opportunity arises to create value”, the possibility of divesting Solvia will be assessed.

“Given the current coverage levels and the appetite that exists in the market, it is feasible to analyse an operation of this kind”, said Guardiola, who stressed, however, that “the time has not arrived yet”.

In fact, Banco Sabadell is immersed in a process to sell several portfolios of toxic real estate assets amounting to €10.8 billion in total, which will allow it, if expectations are met, to divest almost all of its problematic real estate inheritance, worth close to €14 billion at the end of 2017.

To remove these toxic assets from its balance sheet, most of which it inherited from Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo (CAM), the entity chaired by Josep Oliu has placed two portfolios of foreclosed assets on the market worth €7.5 billion.

Those portfolios join two others launched at the beginning of the year, worth €3.3 billion (one worth €900 million and the other worth €2.4 billion), and so Banco Sabadell is already sounding out the market to place packages worth €10.8 billion in total.

Jaime Guardiola, meanwhile, considers that the Spanish mortgage business “is very healthy” and that the delinquency levels “have been very well managed”. He adds that the new pipeline is being carried out in an optimal way, and so he rules out the possibility of the mistakes of the past that triggered the crisis being made again.

Original story: Intereconomía

Translation: Carmel Drake

Grosvenor Will Invest €200M to Double its Portfolio in Spain by 2022

25 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The British group Grosvenor is taking advantage of the strong performance of the real estate sector in Spain. The company, which has just presented its financial results for 2017, revealing a record profit of GBP 143.5 million (€163.8 million), has revised its plans for Spain. It is now going to spend more than €200 million on purchases, together with the Malaysian group Amprop, with which it owns a joint venture in the country. The group aims to double its portfolio of assets between now and 2022, according to James Raynor (pictured below), CEO of Grosvenor, speaking to Eje Prime.

“In 2017, we increased our potential in the residential sector, specifically in Madrid, where we undertook six acquisitions for development”, explained Raynor. “Our intention is to transform under-utilised assets into properties that contribute to the growth and dynamisation of the neighbourhoods in which they are located, and we have faith that our first projects in the districts of Salamanca and Chamberí will do just that”, he added.

Grosvenor’s most ambitious plans in Spain include its new purchases. The group, which now employs eight people in the country after it opened an office in Madrid, has increased its investment capacity to €200 million through its joint venture together with Amprop, created last year to build luxury homes in Madrid. “We will also evaluate investments outside of the joint venture”, added the director.

The alliance with Amprop set itself the objective of backing value-added investments, where it assumes high risks but also assigns them high profitability. For these types of projects, the two groups have allocated a budget of €70 million, although they have reviewed the numbers thanks to the “opportunities being offered by the Spanish market”, explained the executive.

Grosvenor evaluates its last year in Spain as “a good year”. (…). “Having expanded our team, we have more power to unlock opportunities that would have been impossible without the experience of professionals in the sector. We have also been making progress with projects such as the one we have underway at number 53 Jorge Juan”, explained Raynor.

Over the coming months, the British group is going to continue “to look for investment opportunities in the main neighbourhoods of Madrid”. “We think that this is the perfect time to invest in residential developments in Spain and in repositioning opportunities, although we are also open to the acquisition of mixed-use assets, as well as retail properties and offices”, says Raynor -; “As an investment company, we have a diverse portfolio and extensive experience in all of the real estate sectors, and so we will take advantage of that know-how to find the most appropriate opportunities to suit us (…).

The fund has been led in the Spanish market by Fátima Sáez del Cano since 2007, although its operations in the country date back to 1996. The director leads the fund specialising in the office and commercial sectors, which is also responsible for the management of the funds and assets. Some of the properties under Grosvenor’s management in Spain include the Islazul shopping centre in Madrid and the Anecblau complex in Barcelona (…).

In addition, in recent months, Grosvenor decided to add new blood to its management team by hiring more directors. In September, the group recruited Javier García as the new Technical Director for the Spanish market. The director is responsible for the technical management of operations in Spain, from the control of the design to the monitoring of project costs and deadlines (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aelca Invests €99M in Construction of 468 Homes in Madrid, Cataluña & Andalucía

25 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Aelca is investing almost €100 million to strengthen its portfolio as it prepares for its stock market debut in 2019. The Spanish property developer is spending €99.2 million on the construction of 468 new homes, spread across seven developments in Madrid, Cataluña and Andalucía.

Construction work on all of them already started during the first four months of this year. The land acquired by the property developer spans more than 56,000 m2 of buildable surface area, with the projects that it is going to build in the Community of Madrid standing out in particular.

Not in vain, four of the developments are located on the outskirts of the Spanish capital. In Boadilla del Monte, Residencial Nacari is going to have 96 homes; in Paracuellos del Jarama, Residencial Aquam is going to comprise 36 homes; and in El Ensanche de Vallecas, the Monet and Nueva Gavia urbanisations are going to add 60 and 56 properties, respectively, to Aelca’s portfolio.

Meanwhile, in Cataluña, the property developer is going to build Residencial Aviació, with 42 homes, close to the El Prat Airport, whilst in Andalucía, the company led by Javier Gómez and José Juan Martín Montes is building two projects in the province of Málaga. In the Costa del Sol’s capital, it is constructing the Navis Building with 67 homes and in the town of Torrox, it is working on Duna Beach containing 111 homes.

Currently, Aelca owns a portfolio of finalist land with the capacity for the construction of more than 13,000 homes, after investing €500 million over the last two years. Since its creation in 2012, the property developer has handed over more than 1,200 homes and in 2017, the company generated profits of €25 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Renta Corporación Considers Paying Dividend of 30% to Shareholders in 2018

26 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Renta Corporación is returning to the boom times. According to Luis Hernández de Cabanyes, President of Renta Corporación, the real estate group is evaluating the possibility of distributing a 30% dividend to its shareholders. If that decision is approved in the end, the group’s shareholders would receive almost €5 million, given that the group’s objective for this year is to achieve a net result of €16 million.

That would be the first time in ten years that Renta Corporación has distributed any of its profits. “We have the intention of distributing a dividend, however, it will all depend on the financing needs of the company”, added the President of the group. Although the dividend for 2018 is still under consideration, the company has hinted that it will almost be a commitment to its shareholders starting from next year.

This reward for Renta’s shareholders comes after the company managed to pull itself out of the economic crisis. “We find ourselves facing a favourable market for the next four years and our objective is to return to our pre-crisis levels, when the group’s net profit amounted to between €30 million and €50 million, by 2022”, says Hernández.

“A stable business model, a renewed brand (the group is going to unveil a redesign of its entire corporate image next week), solvency, a portfolio of buildings under construction, a database and external collaborators are the ingredients to achieve the results that we have set ourselves”, concluded the President of the group.

According to the group, its strategic plan for the next three years involves maintaining a portfolio mix similar to the one it has had until this year “with the aim of diversifying its exposure to the risk presented by the different segments of the real estate market”.

“Renta will continue to concentrate its portfolio in the residential sector, one of the markets that is experiencing the highest growth and where positive trends are forecast, both in terms of prices and the volume of operations” – say sources at the group – “The operations forecast in the strategic plan will continue to concentrate on the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, since they are the most dynamic of all the markets”.

In 2018, Renta expects to close numerous operations involving the acquisition of new assets and the sale of properties, whilst in 2019, the number of transactions carried out by the group will rise to 31. In 2020, Renta plans to sign 34 operations. The operating margin is expected to amount to €26.5 million in 2018; €33.9 million in 2019; and €35.6 million in 2020.

Although Renta is focusing on Spain, specifically Madrid and Barcelona, the company does not rule out returning to some of its old haunts such as Paris (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa Sells Tertiary-Use Plot in Barcelona for €22M

26 April 2018 – La Vanguardia

Metrovacesa has sold a plot of tertiary-use land in Barcelona, located in the 22@ district of the Catalan Capital, to the property developer La Llave de Oro for €22 million, according to a statement from the real estate company.

The company in which Santander and BBVA hold stakes says that with this transaction, it has now achieved 75% of the total land sales target that it set itself for 2018.

Metrovacesa has closed the sale of this land after completing all of its urban planning management procedures in December. The plot forms part of a portfolio of tertiary-use land owned by the real estate company spanning 1.3 million and worth around €700 million, which represents 27% of its total portfolio.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake