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Funds have 20.000 million Euros to acquire buildings in Spain.
The Spanish market has shifted from being a source of worry to being the focus of the biggest international investors. A sign of this is the entrance of Bill Gates in FCC or the renovated interest of foreigners in real estate assets, a sector they fled from in 2012.
These funds have at least 20.000 million Euros available to invest in the construction sector and other banking assets in Spain, according to sources close to these investors. These figures exceed the 14.000 estimated by the consulting firm Knight Frank, as it only takes into account real estate investments for the next 12 months.
Blackstone, the greatest venture capital managing firm globally, has closed recently a fund that could invest up to 5000 million Euros in the Spanish construction sector and another 5000 million Euros in other assets, according to financial sources. Cerberus, a great vulture fund, could allocate 3000 million Euros more to Spain after the acquisition of Bankia Habitat. Another great fund such as Apollo has 1000 million Euros reserved for this market. And according to sources close to Savia, the recovery platform from Javier Botín, son of the president of Santander, there would be investment commitments from US hedge funds for 1000 million Euros.
But these are only the tip of the iceberg. There are more than one hundred foreign funds studying acquisitions in Spain and the orders are to get the biggest piece possible of the cake. Most of them “have already the approval from their boards to invest 250 million Euros in the Spanish real estate sector in the next 12-24 months”, Borja Oria, executive at Arcano Investment Banking, declares.
The key change in the Spanish market has taken place since Easter, the experts explain. “It is cheap to invest in Spain. It is in fashion and the reforms carried out are valued, especially the labor and finance restructuring ones”, Jose María Pinedo y de Noriega, managing partner at Auren Finanzas Corporativas, declares.
The relief of the Euro crisis has also helped: “The disappearance of the Euro risk has prompted the arrival of private funds and investors from South America and countries such as Switzerland, Luxembourg or China”, Juan Antonio Gutierrez, managing partner of the Mazabi family office, declares. Operations such as Bull Portfolio from the bad bank also help to improve the international image from Spain. (…)