AURA News Real Estate

Merlin Properties Buys Another Building In Barcelona for €37m

13 January 2015 – Expansión

Merlin Properties, a leading Spanish listed real estate company, is investing in Barcelona once more. In August last year, it acquired a building in the World Trade Center (WTC) Almeda Park (Baix Llobregat) from the Swiss bank UBS, and five months later, it is completing a very similar transaction. The Socimi has bought a new office building in the same business complex, which was also owned by UBS, for €37 million. The Swiss bank has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

Merlin Properties has acquired building number 8 in the WTC’s Almeda Park complex, which includes 14,543 square metres of office space and is leased to various groups, including Panasonic, Technip and Colt Telecom.

Last August, Merlin Properties bought building number 6 in the same complex, for €47 million, which is leased to Axa (the sole tenant). Cushman & Wakefield also advised on that transaction.

The CEO of the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Oriol Barrachina, indicates that “real estate investors are interested in this business complex because its facilities are very attractive to the companies that occupy it”.

Catalan sovereignty

Last December, the CEO of Merlin Properties, Ismael Clemente, warned that Catalan sovereignty was beginning to affect real estate investments in that market, “We have seen a shift in investor sentiment in Cataluña”, he said. However, he also assured that Merlin Properties would continue to increase its portfolio in the Catalan market.

Original article: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Aura REE

Meridia Acquires Ten Consum Supermarkets

13 January 2015 – Expansión

MERIDIA Miref, the real estate fund owned by Meridia Capital Partners, has acquired the premises housing ten Consum supermarkets from a group of investors. The premises occupy nearly 22,000 square metres in total and are located in Valencia (9) and Castilla-La Mancha.

Original article: Expansión

Translation: Aura REE

Lone Star Acquires Neinor And Real Estate Assets From Kutxabank

15 December 2014 – The Corner

The purchase of large swathes of Spanish land by US hedge fund Lone Star is further compelling evidence that the Spanish property market is staging a recovery. This investment signifies that the improvement in the market will soon be seen in the residential sector, having previously been confined to the retail and commercial markets.

Earlier this month, Lone Star bought the property management arm Neinor from the Spanish lender Kutxabank, as well as around half of the bank’s real estate assets for €930 million.

Original story: The Corner

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Merlin Buys Imaginarium’s Logistics Centre For €10.7m

30 September 2014 – Europa Press

Merlin Properties has acquired the complex of warehouses that house the logistics centre of the toy company Imaginarium in Zaragoza, for €10.7 million, according to reports by the Socimi.

The complex comprises three buildings: two for logistics and storage plus one for use as offices. The toy company rents the buildings, which are located in the ‘Plaza’ logistics area of Zaragoza, one of the largest of its kind in Spain.

Similarly, the Socimi has purchased another warehouse located in Almussafes (Valencia) in the same area as Ford’s factory in Spain for €12.2 million.

This warehouse, which it acquired from a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors, occupies a surface area of 26,613 square metres and is leased in its entirety to Ford, Johnson Controls and Truck & Wheel.

Merlin Properties said in a statement that these two investments “consolidate” its entry into the industrial asset sector.

Moreover, following these purchases, the listed real estate company now has property investments amounting to €1,069 million, i.e. it has spent almost all of the €1,292 million it raised through its IPO.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axia Has Acquired An Office And 5 Warehouses For €69.33m

1 August 2014 – Estrategias de Inversión

The largest investment was in Alcobendas (Madrid), where it acquired an office building for €28.75 million.

This is proving to be a busy week for the Socimis – on Thursday, Hispania, Merlin and Lar all reported that they have made a number of investments, amounting to €377.1 million, and these companies are continuing to close transactions on Friday. In addition, Axia has invested €69.33 million buying a number of buildings.

Specifically, the company has announced the purchase of an office building in Alcobendas (Madrid) from IVG Institutional Funds for €28.75 million. The building has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 17,266 square metres, plus 396 parking spaces.

It has also acquired three logistics warehouses located in Cabanillas del Campo (Guadalajara), with a GLA of almost 37,877 square metres, for €16.68 million. Two of the warehouses belonged to Parques Industrialises Nuevas Áreas de Actividad Gran Europa and the other one was owned by Altamira Santander Real Estate.

Finally, Axia has also purchased a warehouse in Azqueca de Henares (Guadalajara) with a GLA of approximately 35,781 square metres and another in Dos Hermanas (Sevilla), with a total GLA of 42,466 square metres, for a total price of €23.90 million.

Original story: Estrategias de Inversión