• Transaction / Assets
    15% of the company Nuevas Actividades Urbanas
  • Seller
    Gesfesa
  • Buyer
    Banco Sabadell
  • € MM
    c. 30

Sabadell Acquires 15% Of NAU, Which Holds Stakes In 2 Shopping Centres In Valencia

7 September 2017 – Valencia Plaza

Gesfesa, the firm owned by the Ferrando and Quesada families, has transferred the shares that it held in the real estate investment company Nuevas Actividades Urbanas (NAU) to Banco Sabadell. NAU owns significant stakes in the Aqua and Arena shopping centres in the city of Valencia.

That is according to the most recent annual accounts filed by the company Gesfesa Valencia SL, which reflect the operation within the caption “Variation in Group companies and associates”. “During the year, 51,862,209 shares in the company Nuevas Actividades Urbanas were transferred to Banco Sabadell by way of payment for a debt that we held with the entity”, reveals the company in its annual report.

The shares, which represent just over 15% of NAU’s total share capital, convert the financial institution into the new partner of Atitlan, which has controlled an 84.5% majority stake in the company since last March, through the entity Demeter Áurea.

When asked about the deal, sources at Banco Sabadell refused to confirm any of the details of the operation, but according to sources in the real estate sector, Gesfesa has now paid off all of its debt with the financial institution. The same sources add that Sabadell would have valued the stake it received at around €30 million, which means that the value of NAU amounts to around €200 million in total (…).

NAU’s assets

NAU, in which Sabadell now holds a stake, owns an attractive portfolio of assets, although it has suffered in recent years from a high level of debt and a complex relationship with the Montoro family. The Montoros are NAU’s partner in the ownership of its most sought-after assets – the aforementioned Aqua and Arena Multiespacio shopping centres.

Oceanic Center, the company that owns the Aqua Multiespacio retail, hotel and leisure complex, is one of the companies that NAU and the Montoros own jointly through the firm Navisa, however, the recent purchase of the 50% stake that used to be owned by Iberdrola left the family in control of most of the shares.

Meanwhile, the ownership of Valencia Natura Park, which owns the Arena Multiespacio shopping centre, is shared equally between the parties, with 50% in the hands of NAU and the remaining 50% held by the Montoros. The same applies in the case of Osito Park, which owns land next to the El Osito de la Eliana shopping centre. Another important asset is the Vega Cullera SL company, the property developer of the so-called Manhatten de Cullera – which is 100% owned by Navisa, in which the Montoros holds a majority stake.

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by Dani Valero)

Translation: Carmel Drake