AURA News Real Estate

Chenavari Puts its Entire Property Portfolio in Spain Up For Sale

The British investment manager is looking for a buyer for its real estate portfolio in Spain, which is valued at 700 million euros.

The London-based real estate investment manager Chenavari has decided to find a buyer for its portfolio of assets in Spain. According to El Confidencial, the firm created by former partners of BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Bear Stearns, already had plans to exit the Spanish market before the coronavirus and had engaged Alantra for that purpose.

Chenavari entered the Spanish market in 2014, by purchasing both assets and loans from Spanish banks. In this way, it participated in the purchase of two of the first portfolios that were sold by Bankia following its rescue by the state, specifically, Project Wind, amounting to €1.3 billion, which it acquired together with Oaktree, and another portfolio containing property developer loans worth €335 million.

Tomás Olivo Increases his Stake in Unicaja to 4.55%

The shopping centre developer, Tomás Olivo, has strengthened his position in Unicaja after buying 24 million new shares in the financial entity.

The Murcian property developer Tomás Olivo, owner of the largest Socimi on the MAB, General de Galerías Comerciales (GGC), has increased his stake in the share capital of Unicaja after buying 24 million new shares in the entity, according to the records of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

In May, Olivo entered the share capital of Unicaja by acquiring a 3.064% stake. Now, the businessman, who owns nine large shopping centres in Spain, has strengthened his position in the entity to control 4.55% of its shares.

British Fund Helikon Acquires a 3% Stake in Aedas

The stake of the manager, which has joined several other international funds that control more than 5% of the property developer, is valued at 21.3 million euros.

The British fund Helikon Investment has acquired a 3.05% stake in the share capital of Aedas Homes, a percentage valued at €21.3 million according to the current market price of the property developer.

Helikon, a recently created firm, directly owns a portfolio of 1,462 million shares in Aedas, as registered in the records of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

GSA Completes the Purchase of a New Hall of Residence in Madrid

Global Student Accommodation (GSA) has reached an agreement with Corestate to purchase the Emilia Pardo Bazán student residence in Madrid, which has more than 300 rooms.

Global Student Accommodation (GSA) has closed the purchase of a student residence in Madrid. Specifically, GSA has acquired the Emilia Pardo Bazán complex, located in the Ciudad Universitaria area. The property has 302 rooms, both doubles and singles, for students.

The hall of residence, which opened in 2008, was owned by the German firm Corestate Capital Advisors.

LCN Capital Partners Signs an Agreement with Mercadona to Buy 36 of its Supermarkets

The fund specialising in the purchase and subsequent rental of assets has signed an agreement with Mercadona to acquire the 36 supermarkets that the retailer has on the market.

An international fund has closed its first operation in the Spanish real estate market, which is still suffering from the hangover caused by the effects of Covid-19. The fund LCN Capital Partners has signed a pre-agreement with Mercadona to acquire a portfolio of 36 supermarkets, which the company led by Juan Roig put on the market in March, according to sources close to the operation speaking to Brainsre.news.

As this newspaper reported, Mercadona had reached an agreement with an international fund to exclusively negotiate the sale of this portfolio of 36 commercial establishments, spread across 13 autonomous regions, after ruling out various offers from other domestic and international investors.

Record Corporate Property Sales were Registered in Spain Before Covid

2019 was a record year in terms of corporate property sales in Europe, with a 33% increase to reach €23.1 billion. Spain established itself as the fourth most active country on the continent.

Real estate sales in Europe registered a record figure last year, reaching 23.1 billion euros, according to data from the consultancy JLL.

This volume was 33% higher than in 2018, a growing trend that the experts at the consulting firm expect will continue in 2020, due to the need that some companies will have for liquidity following the Covid-19 crisis.

In the case of Spain, companies completed 37 sales operations involving real estate assets worth €1.5 billion during 2019. Those figures represented an increase of 10% in terms of transacted volume and 48% in terms of the number of transactions, since, although the number of corporate sales increased, they were smaller deals than in 2018. This figure consolidates Spain’s position as the fourth largest market in Europe, after the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Conren to Build 108 Homes on the Site of Hotusa’s Failed Luxury Hotel in Barcelona

The fund manager has purchased a plot on Paseo de Sant Joan where the Hotusa chain had been planning to build a five-star hotel.

The real estate manager Conren Tramway has acquired a plot of land located at the intersection of Paseo de Sant Joan and Avenida Vilanova, in the Eixample district of Barcelona, next to Arco del Triunfo metro station.

For more than a decade, the land has belonged to the Hotusa hotel group, which had planned to build a unique luxury hotel on the site. However, first, the refurbishment and expansion of the nearby metro station, and then the approval of the hotel moratorium launched by the city’s mayor Ada Colau when she arrived at the town hall (which prevents the opening of new hotels in the city centre) put paid to those plans. As such, the hotel group has now decided to sell the plot.

The Office Market in Madrid Recovered Somewhat in May but Continues at Low Levels

Enquiries regarding available space gradually increased by up to 40% in May and around 16,500 square metres of office space was leased in the capital.

The office market in Madrid has registered several operations and a gradual increase in demand for conventional and flexible space, even whilst the State of Emergency is still in force, according to the consultancy Savills Aguirre Newman.

Enquiries regarding available space gradually increased by up to 40% in May compared to the average registered between 15 March and 30 April. However, activity still remains at slightly lower levels than in August, the month that usually sees the lowest level of activity of the year, according to the consulting firm’s historical records.

AXA IM Buys 919 Rental Homes in Madrid from Tectum for €150 Million

Axa’s real estate manager has starred in the largest turnkey operation involving rental homes in Spain to date.

The manager AXA IM-Real Assets, the real estate arm of the insurance company Axa, has given a clue as to where the Spanish real estate market may go in the short and medium term: it has purchased a portfolio of 919 social housing properties, located in the Community of Madrid, and intended for rent (known as build to rent) from Tectum for €150 million.

The vendor, Tectum Real Estate, is a company specialising in the development of properties for rent, together with its developer partner, Locare Real Estate, which has been advised by the boutique consultant TC Gabinete Inmobiliario. The consulting firm Colliers has advised Axa on the technical and environmental due diligences, and will be in charge of the Project Monitoring for the construction work.

Author: Carmel Drake