British Fund Helikon Acquires a 3% Stake in Aedas

The stake of the manager, which has joined several other international funds that control more than 5% of the property developer, is valued at 21.3 million euros.

The British fund Helikon Investment has acquired a 3.05% stake in the share capital of Aedas Homes, a percentage valued at €21.3 million according to the current market price of the property developer.

Helikon, a recently created firm, directly owns a portfolio of 1,462 million shares in Aedas, as registered in the records of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Slim Acquires 3% of Quabit for €4.8M

7 January 2020 – El Confidencial

The Mexican businessman Carlos Slim has acquired 3% of the share capital of Quabit for €4.8 million through his investment company Inversora Carso to become the property developer’s sixth-largest shareholder.

Quabit’s share price rose by 5.15% to €1.14 following the announcement of the purchase. The property developer’s president Félix Abánades is the largest investor with a 20% stake, followed by the Swiss manager Julius Baer (8.7%), the investor Francisco García Paramés (5%), the fund Gescooperativo (3.5%) and the Malagan property developer Sankar Real Estate (3.3%).

Slim appears to be redoubling his commitment to the Spanish real estate market, given that he already holds stakes in FCC and Realia, which currently have 800 and 750 homes under construction, respectively, along with 4.4 million m2 and 5.8 million m2 of land ripe for development, respectively.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Grosvenor Buys its First Office Building in Spain

3 June 2019 – Expansión

The British real estate firm Grosvenor has made its debut in the office market in Spain with the acquisition of a building in the La Moraleja business park (Madrid) for an undisclosed sum. The property is located on Avenida de Europa, 19 and spans 22,000 m2.

Grosvenor returned to the Spanish real estate market in 2017 with the purchase of an 820 m2 plot of land on Calle Jorge Juan, 53 (Madrid) on which it is constructing a luxury residential development with views over the Retiro Park.

Since then it has been expanding its residential portfolio and is currently working on four projects in Madrid: La Esquina de General Arrando, Modesto Lafuente 26, García de Paredes 4 and Jorge Juan 53.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Bankinter’s Socimi Atom Buys Hotel Meliá Valencia for €42.3M

23 May 2019 – Levante EMV

Bankinter’s Socimi Atom has purchased the Hotel Meliá Valencia on Avenida Cortes Valencianas from the company Colony Capital for €42.3 million, according to sources close to the operation.

Colony Capital acquired the 117-metre tall property last year when it purchased the fund Continental Property Investments (CPI). In turn, Continental Property bought the building, which was operated under the Hilton brand originally, in January 2011.

Original story: Levante EMV (by Ramón Ferrando)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Ibosa Bids for the DGT’s Former HQ in Madrid to Build Luxury Flats

22 May 2019 – Idealista

The cooperative manager Ibosa is one of the parties interested in acquiring the former headquarters of the Traffic Department (DGT) in Madrid, located at number 125 Calle Arturo Soria, where 43 luxury flats are going to be built.

The Socimi Jaba I Inversiones Inmobiliarias put the building up for sale recently after acquiring it in 2014 for €19.2 million. The property is currently vacant having been previously leased to the DGT and Vodafone.

The office building has a gross leasable area of 5,526 m2 and comprises a ground floor plus 4 upper floors. It has 148 underground parking spaces and is located in one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods of Madrid. The asking price reportedly amounts to less than €25 million and the sale is expected to close next month.

If it is successful, Ibosa plans to build 43 high-end homes with 2-, 3- or 4-bedrooms. Each property will have a garage and storeroom and the sales prices will start at €554,000, with an average price per m2 of €5,900. The urbanisation, known as Residencial Capella, will have common areas such as a swimming pool and gym.

Original story: Idealista (by P. Martínez-Almeida)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Ores Doubles its Portfolio in a Year & Closes 2018 with Assets Worth €357.4M

11 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Olimpo Real Estate (Ores) is establishing itself in the market. The Socimi owned by Bankinter and Sonae Sierra closed last year with a portfolio comprising 34 assets worth €357.4 million. In this way, the company has doubled the valuation of its assets since the end of October 2017, a few months after it made its debut on the stock market. At that time, the firm held a total of 16 investments worth €172.6 million.

At the end of 2018, the value of the Socimi’s portfolio amounted to €357.4 million across 34 assets, comprising mainly hypermarkets (28.5%) and supermarkets (14.7%), retail parks (15.2%) and out-of-town stores (14.4%), as well as premises (8%) located on the main streets of large cities.

During the last four months of 2018, four investment operations were undertaken for a total value of €27.5 million. Specifically, the firm completed the purchase of two supermarkets, an out-of-town store in Santander and a commercial premise in Vigo.

“These operations are in line with Ores’ investment strategy, in urban locations in Spain’s main cities, and with first-class operators as tenants and long-term and stable lease contracts”, said the company in a statement sent to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Ores is a company whose main activity is the acquisition and management of commercial real estate assets, both in Spain and Portugal. The company was created in December 2016 by Bankinter and Sonae Sierra, made its stock market debut at the end of February 2017 and has been increasing its investments and assets ever since.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Thomas Cook Signs a €51M Loan with CaixaBank to Finance Hotel Purchases

4 February 2019 – Hosteltur

Thomas Cook today announced that its joint venture with LMEY Investments, called Thomas Cook Hotel Investments (TCHI), has obtained a second round of financing amounting to €51 million thanks to an agreement with CaixaBank. The funds will be used to acquire hotels in Spain and the Mediterranean.

Thanks to that agreement, the joint venture’s funds to purchase hotels have increased by €91 million over the last three months, following the agreement signed with Piraeus Bank, according to reports from HostelTur news (…).

Those funds will be used to invest in opportunities that arise in Spain and the Mediterranean area. In fact, TCHI has also announced the acquisition of one 250-room hotel in the Canary Islands and another 300-room hotel in the Balearic Islands. In total, the seven hotels that the company currently owns represent assets worth €250 million and contain 2,200 rooms.

The fund has the objective of owning between 10 and 15 hotels over the next two years. A channel for more hotel acquisitions has been identified by the company and the team is focused on executing the expansion plan for the coming years.

TCHI was created in March 2018 to support the growth of the Thomas Cook’s own brand hotel portfolio as part of its strategy to take greater control over its hotel inventory and the customer experience (…).

Original story: Hosteltur 

Translation: Carmel Drake

MK Premium Acquires Another Building in Barcelona for €3.8M

31 January 2019 – Eje Prime

MK Premium is starting the year with new purchases. The company has acquired another building in Barcelona for €3.8 million. The asset is located at number 5 Calle Milans, a street in the ‘Gótico’ neighbourhood where the company already owns another property.

According to explanations provided by the company, it is a historical property, constructed in 1870, with a total surface area of 1,107 m2, comprising seven homes and two commercial premises.

In 2017, MK Premium acquired the building located at number 4, with a total surface area of 2,700 m2, worth €10 million. With this purchase of number 5 Calle Milans, the Spanish property company has invested almost €14 million and owns assets spanning more than 3,700 m2.

The Spanish property firm, specialising in real estate assets ended 2018 with a profit of €2.12 million, which represented an increase of 135% with respect to 2017. The company’s turnover for the year amounted to €14.63 million (…).

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi VBare Acquires a Building in Madrid for €5.3M

9 January 2019 – La Vanguardia

The Socimi VBare Iberian Properties Socimi has purchased a building comprising 27 homes and 2 commercial premises in Madrid for €5.3 million plus transaction costs.

In order to purchase the property, which is located on Calle Vallehermoso in Madrid, VBare has signed a mortgage loan with Banca Pueyo for €3.43 million, contributing the rest of the purchase price through available cash.

The property is mainly dedicated to residential use and the expected net approximate yield will amount to 4.3% once the refurbishment work has been completed.

The building has a surface area of approximately 1,500 m2 and is the second most significant acquisition carried out to date by VBare in terms of investment volume, after the operation it completed on Calle Luchana in Madrid in October 2018.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Marathon Buys an Office Building & a Hotel in Madrid for c. €30M

21 November 2018 – Expansión

The US investment fund Marathon is increasing its commitment to Spain with the acquisition of a mixed-use complex of buildings in Madrid, which houses an office block and a four-star hotel managed by the Mallorca-based chain Barceló.

Specifically, the US investment fund has closed an agreement with Credit Suisse Real Estate, owner of the asset until now, to acquire the complex for around €30 million, according to market sources speaking to Expansión.

The complex has a total surface area of 14,000 m2 and is located at numbers 19 and 21 Calle de Julián Camarillo in Madrid, one of the most established office districts in the east of the capital, a few minutes by car from the Ifema exhibition centre and Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport.

The operation has been advised by the real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank.

The complex includes an office building, with a surface area of more than 9,100 m2, occupied by several tenants: Adquira, the company specialising in e-commerce; Lebara, the telephony company; Ixion, the robotics and drone firm; and Norgine, the pharmaceutical business, amongst others.

The complex also has retail and leisure areas and indoor and outdoor parking.

In addition, the asset houses a four-star hotel, managed by Barceló Group, now under the Occidental Hoteles brand.

The Hotel Occidental Madrid Este – previously known as Barceló Torre Arias – has 108 rooms, four of which are junior suites, as well as a gym, sauna and restaurant. The establishment also has two meeting rooms with capacity for up to 80 people.

With this operation, Marathon is strengthening its presence in the Spanish real estate market. The US fund is, together with Attestor, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, one of the minority shareholders of the property developer Vía Célere, which is controlled by Värde (75%).

Moreover, the investment fund acquired the Bahía Azul shopping centre in Málaga in 2016.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake