Category: Offices

Patrizia Acquires an Office Building in Madrid for €45 Million

The German fund manager has acquired a 15,000-square-metre office building in the Arganzuela district of the capital for €45 million.

The German fund manager Patrizia has acquired an office building located on Calle Fray Luis de León, 11 in Madrid, in the Arganzuela district, for 45 million euros. In this way, the investment firm has reactivated the office market in the capital with one of the first purchases in Madrid post-Covid, as reported by the company to Brainsre.news.

The property has a surface area of 15,000 square metres and 176 parking spaces. In addition, the asset is leased for the most part to the company Vodafone, which has a long-term rental contract.

Read the full article in Spanish.

Airbus Sells its HQ in Madrid to Hines for €29 Million

The fund Hines Global Income Trust (Hines Global) has completed its first operation in the office sector with the purchase of Airbus’s headquarters in Madrid where the aerospace giant will continue as the tenant.

Transactions seem to be returning to the office sector in Spain on the first Monday in more than three months that the country is operating at full capacity after the State of Emergency came to an end. The fund Hines Global Income Trust, Inc. (Hines Global) owned by Hines has acquired the industrial and office complex in Madrid through a sale and leaseback transaction with the aerospace company.

The transaction, which represents Hines’s first foray into the Spanish office market, amounted to 29.2 million euros. The complex, which comprises six office and industrial buildings, has been fully leased to Airbus for six years.

Read the full article in Spanish.

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.

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.

Pelayo Buys an Office Building in Madrid

The insurer has acquired the Altamar office building, spanning 5,219 square metres, which is located in the Madrilenian town of Alcobendas.

The Pelayo insurance group has acquired the Altamar office building, which is located in the Arroyo de la Vega business park, in the Madrilenian town of Alcobendas. The insurer has underlined that, with this operation, “Pelayo is continuing to roll out its investment policy in real estate assets seeking to maximise its profitability and optimise the returns on its property portfolio”, which “has become very important”.

The building purchased has an above-ground surface area of 6,047 square metres, of which 5,219 square metres are offices, consisting of a ground floor plus 3 upper floors. It also has indoor and outdoor parking (two semi-basements). For years, the property housed the headquarters of TNT Express, which rented it in its entirety from the German fund MEAG.

Moody’s Confirms Merlin’s Investment Grade Rating with Possible Revisions

The ratings agency has confirmed Merlin’s Baa2 ‘investment grade’ rating, but has assigned it a negative outlook, due to its exposure to shopping centres.

The ratings agency Moody’s has confirmed the investment grade (‘Baa2’) rating of the Spanish Socimi Merlin Properties two months after the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in Spain. However, Moody’s has assigned the company a “negative outlook”, whereby leaving the door open for possible revisions, given the Socimi’s exposure to the shopping centre segment, the properties, together with hotels, most affected by the crisis .

The ratings agency also points to the stronger impact that Covid is having in Spain compared to other European countries and, specifically, in the real estate sector. Regarding commercial assets, Moody’s believes that they will be affected by a decrease in investment and occupancy ratios. However, the ratings agency considers that Merlin will be capable of facing the challenges brought by operating restrictions and lower income.

Merlin’s Profits Fall by 36% in Q1 as it Extends the Rent Subsidies for its Tenants

The Socimi earned €38.6 million in the first quarter, down by 36%, due to the sale of assets and its provisions for Covid that will have a lesser-than-expected impact on its commercial policy.

New measures, provisions and a lower impact on its commercial policy. That is how Merlin Properties is facing the crisis generated by Covid-19, which has seen the majority of its commercial tenants having to close their premises.

Despite this, Merlin generated revenues of €131.8 million euros during the 3 months to March, down by 0.6%, whilst gross rents after incentives stood at €123.3 million, equivalent to 2.6% less.

The Socimi GMP Earned €200 Million in 2019, up by 7%, after Refinancing €525 Million

The Socimi owned by the Montoro family closed last year with revenues of €94.4 million and net profits of €199.5 million.

The Socimi GMP, controlled by the Montoro family and in which the Singapore sovereign fund owns a stake, closed last year with profits of €199.5 million, up by 6.8% compared to 2018.

The company, which specialises in the rental of buildings, especially offices, managed to increase its profits despite the fact that its revenues fell slightly from €106.7 million in 2018 to €94.97 million in 2019, as reported by the company to the MAB, the market on which it has been listed since 2016.

Idom Sells its HQs to Catalana Occidente and Grosvenor for €90M

The engineering company has sold its headquarters in Bilbao and Madrid to Catalana Occidente and the Grosvenor Group for €90 million.

The engineering company Idom has closed the sale of its headquarters in Bilbao and Madrid to Catalana Occidente and the Duke of Westminster for €90 million, according to Expansión.

The Bilbao headquarters, located on the Deusto canal, which spans a surface area of 14,000 square metres, has been acquired by the insurance group Catalana Occidente.

Meanwhile, the property in Madrid, located in the Montecarmelo neighbourhood and comprising offices spanning 10,000 square metres and a below-ground space of 7,000 square metres, has been purchased by the Grosvenor Group, the real estate investment vehicle owned by the Duke of Westminster.

Ekon Moves its Offices to 22@ and Sant Cugat del Vallès

The technology company is moving its corporate headquarters to the 22@ district and the Vallsolana Garden Business Park, in Sant Cugat del Vallès.

The technology company Ekon is going to move its corporate headquarters, previously located in Barberà del Vallés, to the 22@ district of Barcelona and to Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) over the coming weeks.

Ekon, which is in the middle of a growth phase, will move its Support, Development and Services departments to a 1,200-square-metre space in the Vallsolana Garden Business Park, in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona).