Quabit & Avenue Capital Create a Company to Buy Residential Land

4 December 2017 – El Mundo

Quabit Inmobiliaria and the global investment firm Avenue Capital have constituted a company, in which the US fund holds an almost 10% stake and the property developer controls the majority shareholding, to carry out the purchase and development of residential land in Málaga (Mijas), the Balearic Islands and the Corredor del Henares.

In this way, Avenue Capital is ratifying its support for Quabit’s investment and growth plan and is showing its confidence in the development of those assets, worth almost €75 million. The assets have a combined buildable surface area with capacity for approximately 2,000 homes, according to a statement issued by the property developer.

According to the same source, Quabit Inmobiliaria and Avenue have signed all of the documents that set out the terms of the financing line agreement amounting to up to €40 million, announced in September. Of those funds, which will be used to buy the aforementioned plots of land, 15% will take the form of a participation loan and the rest will correspond to senior debt.

The remaining cost of the land will be financed by Quabit Inmobiliaria through newly issued shares as the result of the capital increase that has already been approved by the General Shareholders’ Meeting.

Upwards review of the Business Plan 2017-2022

This new financing line from Avenue forms part of the financing arrangement for new investments set out in the Business Plan that the company has just updated to reflect the intense investment effort that it has undertaken in 2017. Quabit now has a land portfolio spanning almost 1 million m2 and it has put several residential developments on the market.

The company chaired by Félix Abánades has revised upwards its growth and expansion plan in such a way that it has almost doubled (92%) the objective for the number of new homes it expects to build between now and 2022, to 7,888 units, from the 4,100 units estimated initially.

“Since March, we have managed to close land operations amounting to almost €150 million, for less than initially forecast, thanks to the management expertise of the entire team. That gives us great visibility over our business plan and, in turn, allows us to extend our projections until 2022, which is when we will reach our cruising speed, with the hand over of 3,000 homes per year”, explains the President.

This investment effort and the launch of new developments will allow the company to exceed the revenue and profit forecasts it made in January by 20%. The company has designed an ambitious land acquisition plan, which will see it invest €673 million. The forecasts indicate that the firm will record revenues of €1.915 billion, generate operating cash flow of €463 million and distribute €87 million in cash dividends between now and 2022.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake