Tag: Aena

Eugenio Hinojosa Resumes Empark Negotiations

13 October 2015 – Expansión

The Spanish businessman Eugenio Hinojosa has resumed his plans to purchase Empark, the leading car park company in Spain and Portugal. The operation could amount to around €900 million, including debt. Hinojosa, one of the largest operators of parking spaces in Madrid, has resumed talks to purchase Empark after exclusive negotiations broke down between the shareholders of the parking company and the funds that control Vinci Park (Ardian and Crédit Agricole), the car park giant in France.

Last week, sources close the operation said that the negotiations are progressing and only a few minor details now need to be resolved relating to avals, guarantees and creditor approvals (mainly bondholders) due to the change in control of the company. “Financing is not a problem”, assured the sources consulted.

Hinojosa plans to join forces with other partners, including the company Andersen Partners, to buy Empark. Empark declined to comment on the matter. Empark’s controlling partner with a 50.3% stake, is Assip, a vehicle named after the Portuguese company A. Silva & Silva, which is in turn controlled by the founding families of the company who participate in the management of the group. The main executives of Empark, which manages 500,000 parking spaces in Spain, Portugal, UK and Turkey, are José Augusto Tavares (Chairman), Pedro Mendes (CEO) and Antonio Moura.

The remaining capital is divided amongst several investment funds, managed by BES (22%) and Ahorro Corporación (8.2%). The Mello family holds a 2.6% stake. In theory, these partners are also selling their respective stakes in the company. Ahorro Corporación’s stake is now being managed by the fund GED Capital.

Political risk

In July, Vinci Park reported that the negotiations to purchase Empark had broken down after the due diligence (audit of the assets) was completed with findings that were not satisfactory. Sources close to the company say that behind the decision was the high exposure that Empark has to town halls governed by parties linked to Podemos following the municipal elections in May.

Eugenio Hinojosa, who is a related by marriage to the founding family of Cortefiel, has been building up a sizeable portfolio of car park assets in Madrid, and now owns more than 12,000 parking spaces. He was one of the main competitors in the tender for the Aena car parks in 2013, but was his offer was outbid by Empark and Saba. He managed to suspend the award after filing a special appeal with the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Appeals against the airport operator’s decision, but then lost the ruling.

In 2014, the controlling shareholders of Empark engaged JPMorgan and Caixa Banco de Investimento (CBI) to find a buyer. One of the reasons for their exit from the company (they purchased it from Ferrovial in 2009) has been the financial problems of its Portuguese partners, which have undergone a complicated bankruptcy process and have had to make loan repayments in recent months.

Empark closed 2014 with sales of €180 million and an EBITDA of €66 million. As well as managing some of the busiest car parks in Madrid, Aena awarded the group the operation of its car parks in the Western region (including Barajas) in 2013, requiring the management of 40,600 parking spaces. Two years ago, the company also won the tender to manage 82,000 ground-level parking spaces in Madrid.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saba Sells Toulouse Logistics Park To CBRE For €23M

18 September 2015 – Expansión

The group is focusing on its car parks / The company has sold a logistics park in Toulouse for €23 million.

Saba is continuing to take steps to exit the logistics sector and focus its activity on its core car park business. Yesterday, the group led by Salvador Alemany announced the sale of a logistics park in Toulouse (France) to CBRE Global Investors for €23 million.

The asset has a surface area of 20 hectares and was one of the company’s key sites, thanks to its strategic location in the neighbouring country, 30 kilometres away from the French city, one of the centres of the global aviation industry.

This divestment whereby reduces the group’s international presence to Lisbon, where it owns a site with a surface area of 100 hectares. The economic crisis in Spain has been more intense than in Spain and the demand for logistics space is not as great as in the areas close to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

In 2012, Saba began its exit from this business segment with the sale of a logistics park in Chile for €56 million, a deal that allowed it to begin its policy of shareholder remuneration.

In Spain, Saba is about to sell its 32% stake in Cilsa, the company that operates the Logistics Activities Area (ZAL) in Barcelona, measuring 208 hectares and located in one of the best areas of the Catalan capital. It is the last major logistics asset that Saba still owns.

The Competition Commission is studying Saba’s exit from this company; its stake is due to be acquired by Merlin. One of the unresolved questions is whether Sepes will hold onto its 5% stake in Cilsa – which does not even entitle it to sit on the Board of Directors – or whether Merlin will acquire the whole package.

Background

In Spain, Saba – which is controlled by Criteria CaixaHolding – last year sold a logistics park in Coslada (Madrid), some land in San Fernando and a logistics park in Penedés (Barcelona), in a deal worth €100 million.

The firm has continued to withdraw from its logistics business, whilst at the same time closing operations that have enabled it to make important in-roads into the car park sector, with new contracts at Adif train stations, Aena airports and with the Town Hall of Barcelona.

Saba generated revenues of €215 million in 2014 – the logistics division accounted for 19% of sales and car parks accounted for the remainder. In Spain, Saba still owns logistics assets in the provinces of Barcelona, Álava and Sevilla.

Original story: Expansión (by A. Zanón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sacyr Begins Relaunch Of Testa’s IPO To Raise €300m

3 February 2015 – Expansión

Testa, a company controlled by Sacyr, which owns 99.3% of its share capital, will hold the annual meeting of its shareholders today. It is expected that the mandate of the real estate company’s Board will be renewed to approve the distribution of extraordinary dividends and contributions to shareholders through a reduction in share capital. These measures are conditioned on the launch of Testa’s IPO, through which the company seeks to raise at least €300 million.

Specifically, Testa’s Board will give the green light to a capital reduction of €669 million and the return of a further €527 million to its parent company. Sacyr will receive €1,188 million from its subsidiary for both of these concepts.

Sacyr has engaged JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Garrigues to coordinate the IPO. Although the percentage stakes (of the new shareholders) have not been fixed, the entry of new shareholders (which will dilute the current ownership structure) will be limited to a maximum of 30% of the capital, since Sacyr wants to retain its position as the controlling shareholder, with a stake of more than 70%. The banks tried to launch this transaction last year, but market conditions prevented it from going ahead.

The company will try again in 2015, at a time when companies have turned their gaze back to the stock market as a means of financing their businesses and growth plans. Currently, around twenty companies in Europe are looking to go public. In Spain, notable placements include those by Aena, Saeta Yield (ACS), Abertis Telecom and Talgo, amongst others.

Testa’s shares closed trading yesterday flat at €18 per share, representing a market capitalisation of €2,078 million. At this market price, the sale of 25% of Testa’s capital would generate revenues of €500 million.

The subsidiary is the jewel in Sacyr’s crown. It is one of the leading companies in its sector by market assets, with a leasable surface area of 1.37 million square metres and an occupancy rate of 97%.

Original story: Expansión (by C. M.)

Translation: Carmel Drake