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Värde – One Of The Largest RE Developers In Spain

24 August 2016 – Expansión

The US fund Värde has been one of the most active investors in the Spanish real estate sector in recent years.

It made its last purchase in June here, when it bought the real estate group Aelca. Specifically, Värde signed an agreement with the Avintia Group to purchase the company for around €50 million.

The US fund is also a major shareholder in Dospuntos – the former real estate division of the Sanjosé group, the result of the integration of Parquesol within the construction group – . The fund acquired 51% of Sanjosé Desarrollos Inmobiliarios in August 2015 after acquiring a 25% stake from Popular for approximately €90 million.

Dospuntos has launched a plan for the promotion and development of homes that includes an investment amounting to €2,000 million over six years and it is, alongside Neinor Homes – the real estate arm of the fund Lone Star – one of the main residential property developers in Spain.

Dospuntos’ plan involves starting the construction of homes this year and completing around 800 homes in 2018 and almost 1,500 in 2019. With this roadmap, the group hopes to reach its cruising speed in 2019, with the completion of 2,000 homes per year.

In addition to Värde, the property developer is also partially owned by the funds Marathon and Attestor, as well as Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA), JPMorgan and Barclays.

The US fund also controls Bancopopular-e (Banco Popular’s card business). Värde purchased 51% of the business from the financial institution in October 2015. In addition, Värde acquired, together with Kennedy Wilson, the real estate arm of Popular, Aliseda, for approximately €800 million.

At the global level, the fund, founded in 1993 in Minnesota (USA) manages more than $40,000 million and has 200 employees, of which 65 are professional investors with more than twelve years experience.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake