Month: July 2018

IBA’s Socimi Zambal to Complete €80M Capital Increase

30 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Just over a year after expanding its share capital by more than €91 million, Zambal is preparing to undertake a new operation. The Socimi managed by IBA Capital has convened its shareholders for a General Meeting in September to carry out a new capital increase, in this case, amounting to €80 million.

According to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), the capital increase will be undertaken through the issue of 80 million shares with a nominal value of €1 and an issue premium of €0.25, which “will be subscribed and fully paid up through the offsetting of loans”.

Without resorting to bank financing, Zambal has built a portfolio worth more than €730 million. The company’s main assets include, for example, the property at number 77 Avenida San Luis (which houses the headquarters of Gas Natural in Madrid); the Vodafone Building on Avenida de América, and number 18 Avenida de Burgos, which is leased in its entirety to BMW.

The Socimi, which started life in 2013, is an investment vehicle managed externally by IBA Capital Partners. The company specialises in the investment and subsequent management of assets in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona in the office and retail segments, although the company is also looking at other assets such as nursing homes, hospitals, retail parks and logistics platforms.

One of the most recent operations undertaken by Zambal was the purchase of two office buildings on Calle Albarracín in Madrid, which is leased to the French multi-national Atos. That operation involved an investment of €38 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial Earns €254M in H1 Following the Integration of Axiare

30 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Colonial recorded a net attributable profit of €254 million following the merger of Axiare. That represented a decrease of 42% for the Catalan real estate company, although it did increase its net recurrent profit, which excludes the impact of the merger, by 12% to €41 million, according to a statement filed by the company with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The Socimi led by Pere Viñolas recorded revenues from rental income of €170 million to June, up by 21%. Meanwhile, the value of Colonial’s asset portfolio amounted to €11.19 billion, up by 29% with respect to the same period last year.

In terms of its value on the stock market (the group is listed on the main exchange), the new Colonial, following the integration of Axiare, achieved a market capitalisation of more than €4.4 billion at the end of the first half of the year.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lasalle & Corpfin Buy 4 Assets from Makro for c. €100M

30 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Makro is lightening its property load. The food distribution group has sold four assets in Spain to Lasalle and Corpfin for almost €100 million. Specifically, the fund has acquired three of Makro’s centres in Madrid for €90 million, whilst Corpfin has purchased one asset in Madrid for €8 million, according to Expansión.

The company has sold to Lasalle the buildings in Barajas, Alcobendas and Paseo Imperial, all located in the Community of Madrid, in a sale and leaseback operation brokered by CBRE. Other distribution groups such as Inditex and El Corte Inglés have carried out similar operations over the last year.

On the other hand, Makro has sold 8,000 m2 of retail space, also in Madrid, to Corpfin for €8 million. That operation has been brokered by the consultancy firm Knight Frank.

Makro has 37 centres in Spain, which span a total commercial surface area of 241,744 m2. The chain belongs to the German group Metro, which operates in 35 countries around the world.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Montepino Logística Invests €40M in New Logistics Platform in Toledo

28 July 2018 – El Periódico

The Aragonese company Montepino Logística has started to build a new logistics platform on the Toledo Industrial Estate. The new facilities will have a surface area of almost 80,000 m2 on a plot measuring 135,000 m2. The construction work will involve an investment of €40 million and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2019.

Original story: El Periódico

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Generated Profits of €1.1M in H1 2018

27 July 2018 – El Economista

Quabit Inmobiliaria recorded a net profit of €1.1 million during the first half of the year, compared with losses of €3.5 million during the same period in 2017, according to information submitted by the company on Friday to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The firm’s net turnover amounted to €9.1 million during H1, which more than tripled the €2.8 million recorded a year earlier; and the operating result entered positive territory, amounting to €3.6 million.

The real estate firm closed land operations amounting to €24 million, spanning a buildable surface area 85,130 m2, during the first six months of the year.

In total, since kicking off its growth plan in 2017, Quabit has invested €193 million in plots to build almost 4,850 homes, which means that it has already fulfilled 75% of its target to promote 7,900 homes by 2022.

As at 30 June 2018, the firm’s residential portfolio comprises 3,237 homes, which will generate an estimated turnover of €672 million that will be reflected in the income statement as they are handed over in 2018 and 2019. In June, handover began of 116 homes on the Quabit Aguas Vivas urbanisation in Guadalajara, and the firm will finish the year with a total of 215 homes delivered.

The group highlighted that it will see the sale of almost 1,000 homes in 2019 before it reaches its “cruising speed” of 3,000 deliveries per year in 2022.

Original story: El Economista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

VGP Invests €25M in a New Logistics Park (80,000 m2) in Madrid

25 July 2018 – Eje Prime

VGP is going to build a new logistics park in the south of Madrid. The investment group is going to spend €25 million on the development of a macro-project on a plot of land measuring 80,000 m2 in Fuenlabrada. The buildability of the plot is 50,000 m2, according to reports by the company.

The logistics company has acquired a plot on the Callfersa Industrial Estate to expand the supply in the second ring of Madrid. In Fuenlabrada, there is currently 81,000 m2 of industrial surface area, which is fully occupied. Therefore, VGP’s operation, which has been advised by JLL, will double the stock of logistics land in the town.

VGP’s investment “will provide a solution to the lack of supply in the second ring of Madrid”, explains Pere Morcillo, Director of the Industrial and Logistics Area at JLL, who warns that companies “were finding hardly any available space in the area, especially if you take into account that VGP’s project is the only development that is planned in the area”.

During 2017, 800,253 m2 of logistics space was leased in Madrid; and this year, 850,000 m2 of logistics space is expected to be leased, according to data from CBRE. That firm highlights the areas around the A-2, A-1, A-4 and A-42 motorways as those with the most space to let.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

MK Premium Buys its First Retail Premise in Barcelona for €1.7M

26 July 2018 – Eje Prime

MK Premium is diversifying its investments. Specialising in the residential market, the Catalan family office has purchased its first retail premise in Barcelona for €1.7 million. The asset is located very close to Las Ramblas in the Catalan capital.

Spanning a retail surface area of 440 m2, the premises are located at number 44 Calle Escudellers, next to Plaza Orwell. The property is going to be renovated to recover the original serigraphs on its façade.

The property acquired by the family office that is owned by the brothers Daniel and Sergio Leiva was constructed in the 16th century, although the upper floors, dedicated to residential use, were built in 1769. The building has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Town Hall of Barcelona. MK Premium aspires to achieve an annual return of 5.5% from this property, located in one of the prime retail areas of the Catalan capital. The Leiva brothers will establish a monthly rent of €10,500 for the asset.

With this new purchase, the Catalan real estate company has finished the first half of the year with investments worth more than €9.3 million, spread between its offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Porto.

MK Premium ventured into Portugal at the beginning of 2018, as reported by Eje Prime. Its commitment to the neighbouring country is in line with the real estate company’s roadmap, which details that it is willing to invest up to €25 million this year.

Specifically, the most recent purchase that the company has carried out in the residential sector was in Lisbon. The Catalan real estate firm invested €0.5 million a few weeks ago in its first residential building in the Portuguese capital, as revealed by Eje Prime.

The family office’s portfolio now contains almost fifty assets, although it still needs to buy many more buildings and premises to reach the target of having eighty properties in its portfolio by the end of this year.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barings Finalises Purchase of 5 Office Buildings in Madrid from Meridia

27 July 2018 – Eje Prime

The office market in Madrid is just a few days away from seeing the completion of a deal that is shaping up to be the largest operation of the summer. The British fund Barings is finalising the purchase of five office buildings owned by Meridia Capital in the Avalon business park, which have a total surface area of 25,785 m2, according to confirmation provided by sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime.

The American fund Starwood Capital was also a finalist in the bid for this portfolio of assets, but in the end, Barings has fought off the competition to seal the deal. The total amount of the operation has not been revealed, but the transaction is expected to be signed within the next few days. The real estate consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman is advising Meridia on the sale.

Located in the Julián Camarillo district, the new tech area of the Spanish capital, the Avalon business park comprises nine buildings and spans a total surface area of almost 47,000 m2. The rest of the properties in the complex are owned by GreenOak, which purchased its four assets from Banco Santander in 2015 for €40 million.

That same year, Meridia also completed its entry as an owner of the Avalon properties. In May 2015, the Catalan fund, led by the businessman Javier Faus, acquired the five Madrilenian buildings, as part of its purchase for €60 million of 33 assets from Naropa Capital, the family office owned by the Fernández Fermoselle family. The offices in Julián Camarillo were the main assets in the portfolio, but it also included commercial premises, residential properties and even a plot of land in Valencia.

With this operation, Barings is acquiring five assets that, in addition to a vast office space, have 423 parking spaces in a highly sought-after area of Madrid, close to the Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport.

Diversification: after logistics and retail come offices

Barings is on fire in the Spanish real estate market. This latest operation that it is on the verge of signing in Madrid follows several others that it has closed over the last year, to take advantage of the new upward cycle in the real estate sector.

Nevertheless, Avalon is the first large portfolio that the British fund has purchased in the Spanish office market. Barings is, therefore, diversifying within the real estate sector, where it has made investments in the logistics and retail segments in recent months (…).

€23 million more for new purchases and to create a Socimi 

In the framework of its new roadmap for the Spanish real estate market, Barings carried out a capital increase amounting to €23.1 million last February for its Spanish subsidiary Barings Core Spain.

The reason for this reinforcement to its financial muscle resulted from the British fund’s interest to convert the company into a Socimi. The group’s intention is to combine all of the assets owned by Barings in Spain in this new vehicle and to list it on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) over the coming months, as revealed by Eje Prime.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo & Pilar Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Owners of Mywigo Buy 2 Buildings in Ciudad Gran Turia Complex in Valencia

26 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Cirkuit Planet is turning off the phone for a second to invest in real estate. The Valencian group, owner of the smartphone brand Mywigo, has reached an agreement with the Deposit Guarantee Fund to purchase two buildings in Valencia. The assets used to be owned by Banco Sabadell until 2016, which inherited the properties from CAM.

The operation has been led by Strongterra, the real estate arm of Cirkuit Planet, which is acquiring the last two buildings in the sale of the Ciudad Gran Turia complex, previously known as Ciudad Ros Casares, according to reports from València Plaza.

The sale is one step away from being signed and two Valencian partners have participated in it. Sabadell’s servicer, Solvia, has been the entity in charge of leading the sale of the properties, which have been in high demand in a booming real estate market such as Valencia’s.

The buildings, located close to the Vara de Quart Industrial Estate and the Gran Turia shopping centre, span 3,100 m2 each and comprise homes. In addition to that surface area, the transaction includes another 900 m2 in parking spaces. Nevertheless, the ground floor commercial premises in the two properties do not form part of the operation.

With 58 lofts, including twelve penthouses, the two residential blocks, are two of the brand new buildings that remain in Valencia. Although the exact price has not been revealed, the sale could be closed for around €4 million.

Strongterra plans to generate a return from this investment by placing the homes on the medium- and long-term rental market, to which end it is already holding negotiations with several hotel and apartment operators to obtain annual returns of between 8% and 10%, according to estimates from the company itself.

The company’s investment in Ciudad Gran Turia is its third in Valencia. Led by Jonatan Fatelevich and Maximiliano Gavilán, shareholders of Cirkuit Planet, Strongterra plans to group together all of the real estate properties owned by the two businessmen into the company and then convert it into a Socimi over the medium term.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

A Swap from ING & CaixaBank: the Last Stumbling Block in the Sale of Santander’s HQ to AGC

27 July 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The sale of the company that owns Santander’s Ciudad Financiera is closer than ever to becoming a reality. The approval of the liquidation plan by a Madrilenian court set September as the deadline for offers. Nevertheless, there are still disputes to be resolved.

The main stumbling block now is a lawsuit in London against a swap (financial derivative) granted by five entities: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), CaixaBank, ING, HSH Nordbank and AG Bayerische Landesbank. The lawsuit, filed years ago, is based on a claim that RBS manipulated the interbank – LIBOR and Euribor – market. The lawsuit amounts to €800 million, given that the swap has cost around €90 million per year since 2008, according to financial sources consulted by this newspaper.

The discussion in Spain focuses on the fact that some of the creditors of Santander’s headquarters fear that the new owner of the company (Marme Inversiones 2007) will decide to shelve that lawsuit. It would require an agreement between the new Marme and the five banks party to the swap in exchange for renegotiating the derivative, which expires in 2023.

AGC’s offer

Those €800 million, if the process in London proves successful, could mean that all of the creditors recover their money. In particular, the original shareholder, the Brit Glen Maud, and the company Edgeworth Capital, owned by the Iranian investor Robert Tchenguiz, who took positions during the bankruptcy.

Other sources consulted indicate that there is a commitment from the main interested party in the Ciudad Financiera, the Arab fund AGC Equity Partners, to keep the Marme litigation case open.

Currently, the only offer on the table is the one presented by AGC in 2016 for between €2.5 billion and €2.8 billion, depending on the variables that are included. A year earlier, Aabar Investments, the owner of Cepsa, and Edgeworth, also submitted bids. But they were not accepted.

As we wait to see what will happen over the next two months, AGC leads the rest of the candidates to acquire Santander’s headquarters.

One of the possible counter-offers could come from Edgeworth, which negotiated a €2 billion loan with JPMorgan to participate in the liquidation plan. It also proposed that the company exit from bankruptcy without the need to be liquidated.

This operation would generate a sale with significant gains for the funds that entered the process by buying Marme’s debt from financial institutions. They include Blackstone, Canyon and Monarch.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake