Bankinter Continues to Fatten Up its New Hotel Socimi Atom

3 April 2018 – El Español

After the success of Ores, the shopping centre Socimi managed by Sonae Sierra and whose ownership Bankinter shares with the insurance company Mapfre, the bank has recently constituted another real estate investment company as an alternative way for its most select clients to generate greater returns from their wealth (…).

The company is called Atom. Another Socimi that, with a share capital of almost €25 million, started work three months ago from offices leased to it by the bank in the La Finca Business Park, in the Madrilenian suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcón.

No date set for its stock market debut

Although at first, the possibility was considered that Atom would make its stock market debut during the first quarter of 2018, that decision has now been delayed. “No date has been set for the stock market debut. It could happen at any time. In a matter of weeks or months”, say sources at the bank led by Dolores Dancausa (pictured above), the CEO (…).

Bulky portfolio in just 3 months

Nevertheless, and unlike Ores – which made its debut on the MAB on 22 February 2017 without a single asset in its portfolio – Atom is going to start its stock market life with a bulky portfolio of assets. In just three months, it has acquired around 20 hotel establishments.

The last six – including the Hotel Rey Don Jaime de Valencia- were incorporated at the end of March, when the Socimi took advantage of an asset divestment by the private equity firm Atitlán, led by Aritza Rodero and Roberto Centeno, the son-in-law of the President of Mercadona, Juan Roig. Atom added 900 bedrooms to its portfolio through that operation.

Although it has not been disclosed, sources in the sector consulted by this newspaper indicate that the other hotels acquired by Atom could be the 11 establishments that Banco Sabadell left out of the operation, closed in October, in which the entity chaired by Josep Oliu sold the hotel management platform HI Partners to the fund Blackstone for almost €631 million.

Whilst in the case of Ores, Bankinter engaged Sonae Sierra as a specialist shopping centre manager, for Atom, it has empoyed Global Myner Advisors Hotels Capital Invest (GMA-HCI), a company led by Víctor Martí Gilabert, which has proven experience in the management of hotel assets (…).

Atom’s Board

In addition to Martí Gilabert, on the Board of Atom – which is chaired by Eduardo Ozaita, who was recently appointed the Director General of the Commercial Bank of Bankinter, switching roles with Fernando Moreno, who has moved to lead Business Banking –  sits Esther Colom García, who has been hired as the Legal Counsel of the new Socimi (…).

Together with Ozaita, on Atom’s Board as Bankinter’s representative is its Director of Investment Banking, Jaime Íñigo Guerra, who also sits on the governing body of the Socimi Ores. Atom’s Board is completed by Antonio Riestra and Ignacio Díaz, the sole administrator of Otels Hospitality Services.

In theory, the idea being proposed by Bankinter is for Atom to make its debut on the MAB with a portfolio of hotels worth around €200 million, with two-thirds of the establishments located in holiday environments and the remaining one-third located in strategic urban nuclei.

The split of Atom’s share capital will be similar to that of Ores

To raise this share capital, Bankinter has committed to contributing around €20 million, the manager GMA-HCI around €10 million, and other institutional investors another €30 million. Most of the money, around €120 million, will be provided by Bankinter’s own private banking clients. The minimum investment per client will be €200,000, up to a maximum of 15% of each individual’s financial wealth.

Bankinter wants Atom to have a similar shareholder structure to that of the Socimi Ores, in which the financial institution holds a 10% stake (7.48% through the parent company and 2.54% through Línea Directa), the insurance company Mapfre holds 6%, the Castellón based companies Corporación Juan Segarra and Inmuebles Gil Comes hold 5% each, and the manager Sonae holds 3.75%. The remaining 70% is owned by Bankinter’s private banking clients.

Original story: El Español (by Juan Carlos Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake