land Market News: Spanish Real Estate Intelligence

12 December 2018 - El Confidencial

The banks are starting to benefit from the recovery in the real estate sector. Such is the case of Banco Sabadell, which has seen its portfolio of prime land appreciate by €300 million, or 30%, in recent months, ahead of its firing of the starting gun for the sale of its property developer, Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios.

That is the result of an appraisal of the land that the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman has performed for Sabadell. Initially, the plots were valued at €1 billion. They are the best quality plots of land that Sabadell has left since the outbreak of the crisis, and many of them are in areas with high demand in Madrid and Barcelona. For Savills, the chosen plots are now worth almost €1.3 billion, according to financial sources consulted by this newspaper.

Now that the appraisal has been performed, Sabadell and its chosen advisor for this operation, Rothschild, will launch the sale of the property developer SDI and the plots worth €1.3 billion, imminently.

This operation will result in the creation of one of the largest real estate companies in Spain. It will be even larger than Neinor when it was purchased by Lone Star.

The bank does not expect to close the sale of Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios before the end of the first quarter of 2019. By contrast, Sabadell has also launched the sale of Solvia Servicios Inmobiliarios (the management platform), which is on the market for €300 million and whose sale it hopes to close in 2018. According to Expansión, Haya Real Estate (Cerberus), Intrum and Centricus are participating in that process.

Candidates

There are several funds amongst the candidates to acquire the property developer SDI including: Cerberus, Oaktree, Blackstone, Apollo and Lone Star. The first features in everyone's list of likely contenders because of its good relationship with Sabadell in recent major operations. Moreover, it owns a property developer, Inmoglacier, with which there could be synergies following the operation.

Meanwhile, Oaktree is one of the candidates that would start with an advantage, given that it is Sabadell’s partner in similar businesses, and so it knows the team at SDI: they have a platform for the joint development of land and they have purchased land from Iberdrola. Nevertheless, according to sources close to the operation, that fund still needs to confirm its presence in the process.

Other candidates that still need to define their strategies include Blackstone, which is studying all of the operations with Aliseda, but which has opted more for rental assets until now; Apollo, which has wanted to enter the development segment for years; and Lone Star, which since its exit from Neinor has purchased Servihabitat and has as much appetite for Spanish property as it did before the crisis. 'A priori', the operation seems large for Bain Capital, owner of Habitat.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

11 December 2018 - Press Release

Áurea Homes, a company specialising in property development services, has acquired a new plot in Mairena del Aljarafe (Sevilla) for the construction of 40 homes. The land has a buildable surface area of 5,080 m2 and represents a total investment of €7.5 million for the development of the Áurea Bulevar development, which Áurea Homes is undertaking together with the fund FS Capital.

The development will be distributed over two 6-storey blocks, containing homes with two-, three- and four-bedroom homes. The staggered layout of the blocks towards the south means that all of the homes in the development will have attractive terraces. The complex will also include parking spaces and storerooms, as well as extensive common areas, including a large swimming pool. Áurea Bulevar will be completed with a large commercial premise measuring 800 m2.

This residential complex has a privileged orientation overlooking the new boulevard area in Mairena del Aljarafe, a town that forms part of the metropolitan area of Sevilla and which is experiencing a great urban planning boost with the arrival of new tenants.

The municipality is widely consolidated, with numerous parks and gardens, spanning a total green area of around 500,000 m2 and with several protected spaces. Moreover, the new neighbourhoods are distinguished by their wide avenues, numerous recreation areas and excellent sporting and cultural facilities.

Mairena del Aljarafe is well connected with the city of Sevilla through the metro and several bus routes, which make it one of the most attractive areas for housing in Sevilla.

Second operation in Andalucía

This is Áurea Homes’ second operation in Andalucía, which is focusing on the Sevilla area for the time being. The company’s total investment in Mairena del Aljarafe amounts to €38.1 million for the construction of 197 homes in several developments, 109 of them will be multi-family and 88 will be single-family.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake