ASG Invests €25M in the First Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid

10 October 2018 – Eje Prime

ASG Homes is converting one of its assets in Madrid. The real estate group is investing €25 million to transform one of its municipal office buildings into a four-star hotel. For this operation, the group has joined forces with the Hard Rock International brand, which has a presence in more than 74 countries and which is now debuting with its first hotel in the Spanish capital.

The hotel will have 159 rooms and will be located in the Madrilenian district of Atocha, opposite the Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum. ASG is also planning to build an urban garden on the rooftop.

For Brian Betel, Managing Partner of  ASG Iberia Advisors, “this office building has a lot more potential as a hotel thanks to its proximity to the main tourist attractions in Madrid, as well as to the business centre and shopping district”.

ActivumSG in Spain (which operates under the brand ASG in the country) acquired the asset in 2015 for €15 million. The former owner of the building, which has a surface area of 7,800 m2, was the multinational AEW Europe.

The objective of the operation involves unblocking the asset for the group’s investors and taking a step forward in the company’s growth strategy in Spain. Similarly, sources at ASG Iberia indicate that they have opted for Hard Rock due to its “international reach”.

At present, the portfolio of ActivumSG in Spain comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of two, which were divested in recent months, located on c/Manuel de Falla and on c/Santa Leonor, both in Madrid. Even so, the operation that caused the fund to jump to the fore was its purchase of the Mercado de Fuencarral.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Seeks to Integrate its Residential Business into a Listed Property Developer

22 February 2018 – Cinco Días

Sareb has started on a road that it has not yet explored in its short life. The so-called bad bank is evaluating the possibility of entering the residential property development business with a bang, as it plans to team up with a partner in the sector, in exchange for providing land to a joint venture company. That is according to several sources familiar with the process that has reportedly just started.

According to the sources, Sareb has started a process to divest land and developments in progress for around €800 million, which would result in the largest transaction in the history of the entity.

But on this occasion, the managers of Sareb are seeking to use a new formula, which would involve it contributing land to the share capital of a large property developer, be it one that is already listed or one that is considering its market debut. In return, it would enter the residential property development business and benefit from the high profit margin generated by the house construction business.

The operation is in its initial phases and several sources explain that the size of the land portfolio that Sareb wants to put up for sale may still vary, as may the formula for entering the share capital of the real estate company that ends up winning the tender. Sources at the entity declined to comment.

In any case, Sareb would enter the share capital of the property developer with the final aim of the joint venture making its debut on the stock market, which would allow the bad bank to easily divest its stake in the market in the future, in the same way, for example, that Santander and BBVA have done in the case of Metrovacesa’s return to the stock market.

The intention of the entity is to enter as a minority shareholder, ceding the management, of one of the large real estate companies that are currently starring in the new upward cycle in terms of residential development.

This would be a very similar operation to the one carried out by Santander and BBVA with Metrovacesa. In recent years, the banks have been increasing the property developer’s portfolio by contributing land from their balance sheets in exchange for stakes in the company’s share capital. For example, in July last year, the two banks injected land worth €1.1 billion into Metrovacesa through a non-monetary capital increase.

According to the sources, entering the share capital of a property developer would allow Sareb to benefit from the upward cycle in the housing sector since that business generates high profit margins on the construction of homes, much greater than those generated on the simple sale of land portfolios.

The idea could be summarised by the integration of all of Sareb’s residential and land development business by a property developer, to gain a long-term partner.

Only a limited number of candidates have been invited to participate in the process to become Sareb’s strategic ally, around six potential partners, according to the sources.

The perimeter of the assets, worth around €800 million, would make the operation the largest undertaken by the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above). Until now, the largest direct sale was the so-called Eloise portfolio, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs, for €553 million. Initially, Sareb even considered a larger contribution of land, worth up to €1.2 billion, but the experts consider that such a volume would be too difficult for any partner to digest.

In fact, the candidates to integrate Sareb’s assets are very limited because of the volume of the operation. All sights are set on the large listed companies in the sector, such as Neinor, Aedas and Metrovacesa, as well as on the other property developers that are backed by international funds, which are not currently trading on the stock market. In the case of the latter, the formula whereby that company ends up on the market would have to be analysed to facilitate the liquidity that would allow Sareb to divest over the medium term. In that case, the list is much more extensive: Aelca (Värde), Vía Célere (Värde), Gestilar (Morgan Stanley), Q21 Real Estate (Baupost), Inmoglacier (Cerberus), Habitat (Bain Capital) and ASG Iberia (Activum).

In terms of the timings fixed by the entity, the sources indicate that the operation will be closed before the summer, although they acknowledge the difficulty of the process to complete the finishing touches of the negotiations to find a strategic partner.

According to sources in the sector, the timings may also be determined by Sareb’s intention to pre-empt other major land operations that are expected to take place over the next few months.

Such is the case of Blackstone, which acquired 51% of Popular’s property portfolio, assets worth around €10 billion. Cerberus is also expected to be active in the market, through Haya Real Estate and Anida – after acquiring 80% of BBVA’s portfolio worth €5 billion – and, finally, Bain Capital, with Liberbank’s property.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

No Buildable Land Left in ‘Sevilla Este’ After Fund Shopping Spree

16 January 2018 – Sevilla ABC

The supply of land in Sevilla Este has almost run out. And that milestone represents more than just a symbolic fact. It is a clear sign that a new cycle of real estate expansion is underway, characterised by significant interest from property developers in neighbourhoods and towns on the outskirts of Sevilla. It also provides evidence of the shortage of buildable land that exists in the municipality of the provincial capital, which has caused the few plots of buildable land that have come onto the market to spark a great deal of interest amongst investors.

Whilst the property sector started its rebirth in certain parts of the city centre in 2015, interest in other areas of the city has been increasing significantly over the last two years to meet the new demand that is being generated by the growth of the economy. The result of this trend is that in just three months, almost all of the residential plots in the Sevilla Este area have been sold.

“With just a few exceptions, everything that was on the market has now been purchased”, along with plots that still need to be developed for public and social services, explains Juan Aguilera, Manager at Gaesco, speaking to ABC.

And this investor boom in that area of the city is due to the fact that “Sevilla is running out of buildable land for new developments, since vital infrastructures such as the SE-35 ring-road have not been built, which is the main artery that ought to be boosting all of the new areas of metropolitan expansion”, says Aguilera (…).

Q21’s investment

The most recent large land operation in Sevilla Este was carried out by Q21 Real Estate, the property developer that emerged from the merger between the US investment fund Baupost and the Spanish company Grupo Pinar (one of the most recognised firms in the former property sector). That company has acquired a plot measuring 5,400 m2 at the end of Avenida Emilio Lemos, opposite the Aleste Plaza shopping centre, where it will build around 164 homes. The company is currently processing the permits it requires to start the building work and, once it has received the green light, will complete the construction of the properties within a period of 26 months. The plot that Q21 has acquired belonged to another company in the sector that filed for bankruptcy.

That purchase operation took place at the same time as two other large investments in Sevilla Este, also made by companies that are partly owned by large investment funds. One of them was led by Vía Célere, in which Värde Partners owns a majority stake; it acquired a plot for the construction of 1,700 homes that had belonged to BBVA. And in parallel, the fund Activum purchased plots for the construction of more than 1,000 homes (…).

In Aguilera’s opinion, the interest from these investment funds in Sevilla Este has arisen because several factors have converged. “There is significant built-up demand in Sevilla from families who chose to rent during the crisis and who are now interested in buying a home, plus the years of recovery are now creating new families who can also afford to buy one of these new homes”. This demand, combined with the shortage of buildable land in Sevilla, is what has caused the interest in Sevilla Este to soar, which is exactly what already happened with Hacienda Rosario (which used to belong to Gabriel Rojas and which was acquired by Aedas Homes).

Interest in Entrenúcleos

In these circumstances, Aguilera considers that future real estate investments will not be made directly in Sevilla, but rather in the some of the population nuclei of the metropolitan area, especially in Dos Hermanos (which has made the effort to develop an area like Entrenúcleos).

Aguilera thinks that, unfortunately, time has proved him right. “If we had done our homework, we would now be enjoying a great period for the reactivation of large residential projects: demand and the economy are growing, financing is available at very reasonable prices…but none of the areas that require the SE-35, like Higuerón Norte, Buen Aire, San Nicolás Oeste and Villanueva del Pìtamo, have the infrastructure they need to capitalise on this new construction boom” (…).

Original story: Sevilla ABC (by Luis Montoto)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Activum Buys Land From CaixaBank to Build 1,000 Homes in Sevilla

2 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The real estate funds are back in Spain. The German group Activum (which has undertaken a large part of its investments in Madrid in the last two years) has just completed the acquisition of 19 plots of land in Sevilla Este, which, were owned until now by the Building Center, the real estate arm of CaixaBank.

The land in question is located on Avenida de las Ciencias and on Calles Soledades, Homero, Argos and Laertes and may accommodate more than 1,000 homes, together with other tertiary and commercial developments, according to ABC Sevilla.

In fact, this deal represents the second largest operation in this part of the city in recent months, given that Vía Célere, controlled mainly by the fund Värde Partners, acquired another large land portfolio in September, next to the Aquópolis leisure park, which in that case belonged to BBVA, and which has the capacity for the construction of more than 1,700 homes.

Currently, Activum’s portfolio in Spain comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of two that have been divested in recent months, located in Manuel de Falla and Santa Leonor, both in Madrid. Even so, the operation that caused the fund to shoot to fame was its purchase of the Mercado de Fuencarral.

The fund undertook that investment through the vehicle Activum SG Fund III and, although Talus Capital headed up the operation, the bulk of the money proceeded from the fund (approximately €22 million in total). Since then, it has been busy making purchases almost every month.

One of its latest involved the acquisition of six plots of land, all in Madrid, on which more than 1,000 homes can be built. The fund manager closed the agreement with Altamira for those plots in Alcalá de Henares, which have a buildable surface area of up to 50,000 m2.

Its portfolio of assets in Spain is completed with a building in Atocha, in Madrid, acquired in 2015, which it plans to convert into a hotel; the Sexta Avenida shopping centre, also located in the Spanish capital, which has a surface area of 16,800 m2; and the Ruta de Plata shopping centre, the only retail complex in Cáceres, which spans 8,300 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Heron City Sale Fails to Spark Interest amongst Investors

12 December 2017 – El Confidencial

A concept too unique for a market that is used to something a lot more familiar. That is the moral that can be drawn from the decision by Heron International, the property developer behind the famous Heron City centres, to put into quarantine the sales process of the three leisure centres that it owns in Spain.

The offers received by the British company fall well below its expectations, which has caused it to reconsider its whole strategy and take the decision, last week, to suspend the current sales process, according to sources familiar with proceedings.

As El Confidencial revealed in September, the British company engaged CBRE to find a buyer for its whole portfolio, which comprises Heron City Las Rozas (Madrid), Heron City Paterna (Valencia) and Heron Diversia Alcobendas (Madrid), and which has a valuation of between €230 million and €250 million.

Nevertheless, the appetite in the market has been lower than anticipated because the usual suspects who typically participate in these types of operations (large international funds and Socimis) actually specialise in shopping centres, whose casuistry differs from those of leisure centres, and where lots of investment opportunities are still emerging.

In 2017 alone, with less than a month to go before the end of the year, 17 transactions involving shopping centres and retail parks have been closed across Spain, according to data from the trade association AECC, led by giants such as Xanadú. Moreover, during the next two years, around twenty new centres are expected to open and six centres are due to be expanded, which will see an additional gross leasable area come onto the market of more than 2 million m2.

The result has been that Heron International has decided to suspend the sales process and redefine its strategy. The three Heron City complexes, which span a combined gross leasable area of 84,000 m2, have 6,100 parking spaces, receive more than 12 million visitors per year, and represent a brand that arrived in Spain almost three decades ago with a very specific leisure concept, based on cinemas and a restaurant offer that tries to distance itself from classic fast food.

Since its arrival in Spain, Heron International has only starred in one operation, involving the sale of one of its leisure centred, namely Heron City in Barcelona, which it sold to Babcock & Brown and GPT at the end of 2006 for €138 million. Almost a decade later, as El Confidencial revealed, that complex was acquired by ASG, the Spanish subsidiary of Activum, a deal that represented that firm’s first operation in the Catalan capital.

The leisure centre in Barcelona, as well as those in Las Rozas and Paterna were all built by the British company. In the case of Diversia, it purchased that centre in 2003 in conjunction with Realia (50%) and a decade ago it took over all of the share capital when it also acquired the stake owned by FCC’s subsidiary.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL: Retail Inv’t Will Soar To €4,000M+ In 2017

6 November 2017 – Eje Prime

The retail segment is attracting the attention of investment funds and is set a register a new record in 2017. Investment in retail assets is expected to soar by the end of this year to exceed €4,000 million, according to estimates from the real estate consultancy firm JLL. Operations such as the sale of the Mercado de San Miguel and the Mercado de Fuencarral, both in Madrid, will help this segment of the Spanish real estate sector record a new milestone this year.

So far this year, the commercial premises business has already broken all the records and registered the highest level of investment for the last fourteen years. During the nine months to September, the volume of investment in the retail sector amounted to almost €3,488 million, according to the Market Fundamentals report for Q3, compiled by the consultancy firm.

“The inter-annual footfall index in Spain rose by 1.7% in September and retail sales rose by 0.9% with respect to the previous month”, explain professionals in the retail business. This fact, together with the reality that prime rents are continuing to grow at a good pace, means that funds are looking very closely at retail premises.

The large operations involving portfolios of hypermarkets located across Spain stand out, as do the sales of the Mercado de San Miguel and the Gran Vía Alicante shopping centre. Other operations, such as the sale of Mercado de Fuencarral by Activum to AEW for €50 million have also helped to boost business in this segment in Spain.

“In terms of trends in the retail sector, over the last few months, we have seen how the traditional large format retailers are continuing to move into the city centres, convinced that their proximity to consumers will generate greater sales opportunities for them”, explain sources at JLL. Examples include Decathlon’s arrival on Calle Fuencarral and the opening of a Leroy Merlin store in the heart of Barcelona.

Another example is the case of Ikea on Calle Serrano. The Swedish group has just debuted its “test” of its new format, known as Ikea Temporary; it opened the doors of its first establishment in the centre of Madrid, in a building owned by the Loncito family office.

Moreover, last month, Media Markt opened its third urban store in Madrid, in the central Plaza del Carmen, close to the Preciados shopping street. In this way, Media Markt Preciados became the company’s 81st store in Spain and its 11th in Madrid.

Although the brand dedicated to the distribution of consumer electronics has now opened several stores under this “proximity format” in Valencia (Calle de Colón), Madrid (Calle de Alcalá and Paseo de la Castellana) and Barcelona (Plaza Cataluña and the Digital Store on Avenida Diagonal), the company is looking to further consolidate its arrival in Spain’s city centres with this latest opening.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Heron International Engages CBRE To Sell All Its Assets In Spain

11 September 2017 – El Confidencial

The group that revolutionised the concept of shopping centres in Spain has completed its cycle in our country. The British firm Heron International, the developer of the Heron City retail and leisure spaces, has decided to divest all of its establishments in Spain. To this end, it has just engaged CBRE to organise a restricted sales process, in which only a limited number of investors, who have already been selected, are going to be invited to participate.

Sources at the real estate consultancy acknowledge that they have been awarded the exclusive mandate for this process, but they declined to comment further. Nevertheless, sources familiar with the process say that all of the potential buyers on the closed list (which includes major investors, Socimis and institutional funds)have now been contacted and that the portfolio is worth between €230 million and €250 million.

Specifically, the portfolio comprises the Heron City Las Rozas centre (Madrid), the Heron City Paterna centre (Valencia) and Heron Diversia Alcobendas (Madrid), which have a combined gross leasable area of 84,000 m2, along with 6,100 parking spaces and more than 12 million visitors per year. Those figures make this transaction one of the most important in the retail segment at the moment.

The operation includes the right to use the Heron City brand, which will allow the new owner to continue to fly the flag of a concept that arrived in our country almost three decades ago. It represents more than just a shopping centre, since it also encompasses leisure, restaurants and experiences, and is committed to outdoor spaces and partnerships with iconic brands.

For example, in terms of cinemas, Heron always works with Kinépolis and Cinesa to develop large, high-end cinema complexes; whilst Virgin is its typical travelling companion for gyms; moreover, the gastronomic offering always includes some premium concepts, steering clear of classic fast food.

History in Spain

Since it first arrived in Spain, Heron International has only starred in one sale operation involving a retail centre, that of Heron City Barcelona, which it sold at the end of 2006 to Babcock & Brown and GPT for €138 million. Almost a decade later, that complex was acquired by ASG, the Spanish subsidiary of Activum, in that firm’s first operation in the Catalan capital.

Both the Catalan centre as well as those in Las Rozas and Paterna were constructed by the British company, whereas Diversia was purchased in 2003 in a 50:50 alliance with Realia; a decade ago, Heron took over all of the share capital, after it acquired the 50% stake from FCC’s subsidiary.

Nevertheless, although the property developer is known for its retail centres, its history in Spain goes well behind that concept and is directly linked to the turbulent times of the 1980s and the purchase that it made then of the real estate division of Rumasa, as well as of Las Torres de Colón.

Following those acquisitions, it made a commitment to the Government to undertake investments in our country amounting to 30,000 million pesetas (equivalent to €180 million), an agreement it more than fulfilled with the development of its shopping centres. Moreover, its good work in our country also includes the construction of several hotels that, subsequently, have been sold.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Buys 10,000m2 Office Building In Madrid From Activum

3 March 2017 – El Confidencial

Bankia outgrew its Torre Kio offices in Madrid several years ago. In fact, it was more than a decade ago when the entity (still operating under the guise of Caja Madrid) began to consider moving offices. To that end, it acquired the imposing skyscraper from Repsol that Norman Foster had designed on the site of Real Madrid’s former Ciudad Deportiva.

But that operation ended up being disastrous for the bank, which paid €800 million to acquire the property and ended up selling it for half that sum. Nevertheless, Bankia’s expanding space requirements are a reality once again, and under the mandate of José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, the entity is embarking on a cautious but gradual policy of acquiring assets for corporate use.

In this vein, the entity acquired an office building from Activum in December. The property is located in the Julián Camarillo district of Madrid, a secondary area that is currently enjoying a revival, thanks to the boost being given by property companies such as Torre Rioja.

The building in question is located at number 32 on Calle Santa Leonor, it has a surface area of 10,134 m2, spread over two basement floors, with more than a hundred parking spaces, one ground floor, four upper floors and one top floor. Bankia has acquired this building to house all of the workers from its Multi-channel Department, which until last year occupied a rental property, specifically, the Torre Foster, which Amancio Ortega has just purchased. The entity has confirmed the acquisition of this building, but declined to reveal the amount paid, which according to market sources must have amounted to between €2,000/m2 and €2,500/m2, taking the final figure for the transaction to around €20 million.

This is the second major purchase of an office building that Bankia has signed in recent months, after it closed the acquisition of the property that houses its IT services in Las Rozas, for €130 million, from the Swedish group SEKin December 2015. Five years earlier, SEK had bought the building from Caja Madrid for €108 million, with the commitment from the entity to remain as the tenant (‘sale & leaseback’).

With these two operations, the entity has managed to balance out some of its past mistakes, given that, on the one hand, it has exchanged an expensive rent in one of the most iconic buildings in Madrid for a purchase that it has managed to make at a reasonable price and, on the other hand, it is readjusting the numbers for a sale that it completed during one of the toughest periods of the financial crisis.

Through this sale, Activum has completed its second divestment in Spain, following the sale of an office building on Calle Manuel de Falla to the Socimi Axiare. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GreenOak Puts Luxury Homes On C/Fuencarral Up For Sale

7 February 2017 – El Confidencial

Between €350,000 and €1 million. That is the price bracket at which the high-end homes at number 77 on Madrid’s alternative shopping street Calle Fuencarral are going on the market for. The homes are going on sale in the building that GreenOak purchased, together with ASG Iberia Advisors (previously Activum), from the General Treasury for Social Security, for €21 million in a public auction – it was the only offer that the State received for this centrally-located property, whose renovation will combine luxury residential properties with retail space.

The operation, closed at the end of 2015, was led by John Carrafiell (GreenOak), hand in hand with the German real estate fund manager (ASG Iberia Advisors), which is led in Spain by Brian Bettel, the man who used to hold the reins at Cerberus in Spain.

According to sources close to the project, the plans, which have been developed with the utmost discretion since the acquisition, comprise the construction of 40 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom homes (measuring between 50m2 and 150m2), which will be sold for between €350,000 and €1 million, i.e. around €6,000/m2. In addition, the building will continue to house a sizeable retail space, as three of its six floors will be used for that purpose. The common areas will have a swimming pool, solarium and gym, however, it will not have any parking spaces, a major drawback for a project of this standing. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Sources consulted say that there is a long waiting list of people wanting to acquire these units, given that there are no other luxury new homes up for sale in the area to compete with this project. In fact, one of the developments that could compete in this market is located on Calle Fernando VI (in the Lamarca Building, just 500m away), which is owned by the Venezuelan Capriles family, has been completely sold already. GreenOak and ASG Iberia have engaged the luxury real estate company Gilmar and CBRE España to market the properties. (…).

The building, which is located just a short distance from Tribunal metro stop, has been completely derelict for several years. It has a total constructed surface area of almost 8,000 m2 spread over six floors and was constructed on a plot of land measuring 1,875 m2. (…).

This is GreenOak’s first major residential project in Spain, where it has previously focused more on the logistics, office and retail sectors; meanwhile, ASG Iberia has expressed much more interest in housing, along with the retail sector. In fact, that company has separate plans to construct more than a thousand homes in Madrid.

Last year, the fund manager purchased six plots of land from Altamira in Alcalá de Henares with a buildable surface area of 50,000 m2, on which it will build up to 650 homes. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Irea: Investors Spent €184M On 8 Hotels In Málaga In 2016

16 January 2017 – Málaga Hoy

Investors have set their sights on Málaga and are placing a special emphasis on the hotel sector, in light of the visitor and occupancy rate data being registered month after month there, both in the capital as well as along the rest of the Costa del Sol, with the consequent yields that they are generating.

These investors, which include domestic and international companies and funds spent €184 million on eight major hotel operations in the province last year, according to comments made on Thursday by Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Analyst in the Hotels Department at the consultancy firm Irea, in his presentation in Madrid of the Overview of the Hotel Investment Market in Spain in 2016. This amount is less than the €223 million registered in 2015, but Gutiérrez highlighted that all investment records were broken in Spain during 2015, which means that the volume recorded in 2016 “was very good”.

To calculate these figures, Irea includes the sale and purchase of hotels that already exist, as well as of buildings and land that are acquired for conversion into hotels. However, it does not include amounts relating to possible renovations performed at each establishment or for each project. Of the eight operations completed in the province in 2016, six involved the purchase of hotels already in operation and two involved the conversion into hotels of buildings that were previously used for other purposes.

Málaga capital accounted for half of those projects. The Hotel Tryp Málaga Alameda changed hands for the second time in less than a year. Merlin Properties, which recently purchased a portfolio containing several hotels in Spain, including the Malagan establishment, from Testa, sold the same package of hotels to the French investment fund Fonciére des Murs on 30 December, and communicated the sale officially on 2 January. Merlin sold 19 hotels in Spain to the French fund for €535 million. Gutiérrez also said that another hotel was sold in the capital but that he was unable to reveal the name or the amount paid for confidentiality reasons. Also in Málaga capital, the German group Activum purchased the Palacio del Marqués de la Sonora on Calle Granada to convert it into a hotel and another group acquired the building at number 10 on Calle Larios for the same purpose.

In the rest of the province, there were four other major hotel operations in 2016. The most talked about was the sale of the Hotel Byblos in Mijas, which was acquired by the Madrilenian group Ayco for €60 million. The plan is to renovate the property, open it again and restore the luxury tourism market that it used to serve decades ago. The Incosol, another iconic establishment, which had filed for bankruptcy, was acquired by a company owned by Banco Sabadell called HI Partners, for €20 million. Meanwhile, a domestic group purchased Hotel Las Palomas in Torremolinos; and Hotel Costa Park in Torremolinos, which has 388 rooms, was included in the package that Merlin sold to the French group.

Gutiérrez forecasts that 2017 will be positive given that “the Vincci Estrella del Mar was sold for more than €20 million and that other operations are being analysed, which will be closed this year”. The expert noted that Málaga is the fifth most attractive destination for hotel investors after Madrid, Barcelona, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

Original story: Málaga Hoy (by Ángel Recio)

Transltion: Carmel Drake