CorpFin Completes €10M Capital Increase for Inbest

8 April 2019 – Eje Prime

The Spanish fund manager CorpFin has completed a capital increase amounting to more than €10 million in Inbest Prime III Inmuebles and Inbest Prime I Inmuebles, two of its four vehicles specialising in retail.

Specifically, Inbest Prime III Inmuebles increased its capital by €2.33 million, taking the total subscribed amount to €12 million. Meanwhile, Inbest Prime I Inmuebles increased its capital by €8.22 million, resulting in a total subscribed amount of €25 million.

This latest injection of funding follows more than ten capital increases that the firm led by Ana Granado has carried out in recent months.

Corpfin launched Inbest Real Estate in April 2018 with the aim of investing in high street buildings and converting them into flagship stores. Inbest channels its investments through four vehicles, Inbest Prime I, II, III and IV, which will debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in September 2019.

The funds’ largest operation to date was its purchase of the retail premises in Edificio España last year, on which it spent €160 million.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I. P. G.)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Socimi Vivenio to Invest Another €142.5M to grow its Portfolio

11 March 2019 – Idealista

The Socimi Vivenio, owned by Renta Corporación (3%) and the Dutch fund APG (95%), has approved a capital increase amounting to €142.5 million, as it seeks to continue to grow its portfolio. The company will use the funds to buy new residential assets to incorporate into its portfolio, which is worth €470 million, according to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Vivenio’s portfolio currently comprises 24 residential properties (containing more than 2,000 homes, 2,020 parking spaces and 1,600 storerooms) spanning a surface area of 185,500 m2, located mainly in Madrid and Barcelona. It also owns some assets in Valencia and Palma de Mallorca. The Socimi was created in April 2017 and has been listed on the MAB since the end of 2018.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Galil Capital Completes a €7.9M Capital Increase

5 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Galil Capital is raising funds to continue growing its portfolio. The Socimi is going to increase its share capital by €7.9 million, compared with the figure of €8.74 million planned initially, according to a statement filed with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Once the term for the preferential subscription and discretional allocation of shares has ended, Galil explained that the share capital will be increased by €6.59 million, corresponding to 658,710 new shares and to a total disbursement of €7.9 million.

The shareholders of the Socimi, controlled by the Israeli businessman Gil Avraham Shwed, approved the capital increase of up to €8.74 million last November. With this operation, promoted just one month after it raised €4.5 million in bank loans, the company is intending to finance the purchase of new assets.

Galil Capital started life in 2015 and specialises in the investment and management of properties in Madrid and Barcelona. The Socimi is led by Jerry Mandel, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, who is the founder and owner of GC Nadlan, the company that manages the real estate firm (…).

According to the latest available information, corresponding to June, Galil Capital’s portfolio comprises six assets, all of which have residential use, worth €31.36 million (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Marta Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio to Complete a €14.5M Capital Increase Ahead of its Takeover of Única

5 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio is preparing to launch its takeover bid for Única. The Socimi is planning to complete a €14.5 million capital increase to finance the operation, which will be complemented by the exchange of shares plus available cash from the company.

In addition, the company has now completed the two due diligence processes on the Madrilenian Socimi – specifically, the technical and legal due diligences, and both of them have proved positive. “That was the last step that needed to be completed before submitting the offer to the reference shareholders of Única, which is extendable to all of the shareholders”, explained sources at Vitruvio speaking to Eje Prime.

Vitruvio is planning to close the operation for around €32 million. After adding €45 million in properties from Única, the group will be managing a portfolio of rental assets worth €160 million.

According to explanations provided by the Socimi in a statement sent to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), the capital increase will finance part of the acquisition, fulfil the maximum indebtedness limit of 33% and make way for the entry of new investors.

The rest of the operation will be paid for with €8.1 million of available cash as well as financing available to Vitruvio for the purchase, and another €9.7 million, which will be paid for with shares representing 30% of Única.

The capital increase will be proposed at the next shareholders meeting in March at a price of €14.50 per share. “Vitruvio will propose the capital increase at the latest NAV per share, whereby avoiding any dilution of the shareholders”, explained the company.

Única Real Estate was founded in 2015 by the former CEO of Metrovacesa, Eduardo Paraja, and specialises in the acquisition and leasing of commercial premises in the Community of Madrid.

Vitruvio, meanwhile, has a diversified portfolio comprising offices, homes and commercial premises. Together, the two companies own 71 properties, and generate revenues and EBITDA of €9.3 million and €6.3 million, respectively.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I. P. Gestal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

PSN Buys a Floor of Offices on c/Claudio Coello in Madrid for €3.45M

31 January 2019 – Eje Prime

PSN is continuing to grow its asset portfolio in Madrid. The Socimi has just closed the purchase of an office on Calle Claudio Coello, in the heart of the capital’s Salamanca neighbourhood for €3.45 million.

Specifically, the company has purchased a floor of offices (the right and left sides) spanning 570 m2 in total with three parking spaces in the same property. The operation has been carried out with a contribution of €1.25 million from own funds and a mortgage of €2.2 million.

The mortgage loan has a duration of twelve years and carries a fixed annual interest rate of 1.7%, according to explanations provided by the company in a statement submitted today to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Moreover, the group has subrogated the lease contract signed for the right-hand office, which is due to expire in October 2024. The left-hand office, by contrast, is vacant.

PSN is whereby adding a new asset in the Madrilenian market, where it acquired a commercial premise in Collado Villalba for €1.3 million last year. During the last year, the company has also purchased two premises in Santiago and Tenerife, for €1 million each, as well as an office building in Sevilla and a hotel in Salamanca for €3 million.

The company, which debuted on the MAB in December 2017, owns a portfolio comprising more than thirty assets including offices, commercial premises and parking spaces in 21 cities across Spain and Portugal. The company expected to close 2018, its first full year on the stock market, with profits.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Green Oak Sells a Batch of 5 Assets in Madrid for €74M

21 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Green Oak is divesting assets in Spain. The US fund manager specialising in real estate has disposed of a batch of five office buildings in Madrid, for which it has received €74.3 million in total, almost €9 million more than the appraisal value of the properties. The five assets formed part of the portfolio of Gore Spain Holdings, the Socimi owned by Green Oak, which has been listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) since January 2017.

Last Thursday, Green Oak formalised the sale of 100% of the company Inversiones Pukaki, through which it controlled four office buildings in the Avalon Business Park. Barings acquired those properties for €57.8 million in total, although the valuation of the buildings amounted to €47.2 million as at December 2017.

Green Oak had owned the four buildings in Avalon, a complex located at number 65 Calle Santa Leonor, since July 2015. The buildings sold to Barings (which owns 100% of the park following the operation) have surface areas of 3,671 m2, 5,077 m2, 6,304 m2 and 6,119 m2, respectively, amounting to 21,172 m2 in total.

GreenOak purchased this batch of assets from Banco Santander for around €40 million. According to data provided by Green Oak, the valuation of the properties was revised at €47 million on 31 December 2017, on the basis of an appraisal compiled by CBRE.

The US fund manager has divested another asset, also included in the portfolio of Gore Spain Holdings. On Friday, the company signed the sale of the company Inversiones Malvinas, through which it controlled another office building, located in Alcobendas.

The company has divested the property located at number 7 Avenida Bruselas of the Madrilenian municipality for €16.5 million. The valuation of that asset amounted to €18.26 million as at 31 December 2017, based on an appraisal also performed by CBRE.

That asset has a gross leasable area of 6,361 m2 spread over six floors. The building, constructed in 2002, also has three underground floors for parking and is home to five tenants (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Crowns its Position as the Largest Property Owner in Spain

18 September 2018 – Cinco Días

Blackstone likes Spain. And specifically, the Spanish real estate market. In recent years, the fund manager has made several large purchases linked to property in the country, displaying its enormous financial capacity to handle operations of any size.

In fact, the fund has now become the largest real estate owner in Spain, where it owns assets worth more than €20 billion, according to the figure compiled by Europa Press, placing it well ahead of the largest Socimis, such as Merlin (€11.785 billion) and Colonial (€11.19 billion).

The fund quickly saw an opportunity with the Testa operation, given that some of the shareholders wanted to exit the company, such as the clear case of Merlin, and the willingness of Santander and BBVA to sell.

The acquisition of 50.01% of Testa Residencial from Merlin, BBVA and Santander for €948 million – an operation that is still open to the other shareholders – followed the very recent purchase of the Socimi Hispania, a transaction worth more than €1.9 billion. Initially, Blackstone agreed to acquire the 16% stake owned by the investor George Soros, and then it launched a takeover bid for the rest of the company. In that case, it acquired 46 hotels, which were added to the 15 it had already acquired from Sabadell and whereby the largest owner of rooms in Spain was born.

In July, Blackstone acquired a logistics portfolio from the Socimi Lar España for €120 million. And recently, it was revealed that Blackstone and Centerbridge had teamed up to submit an offer for Santander’s headquarters in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) amounting to €3 billion, in a bid that ended at midnight yesterday.

In Spain, Blackstone’s largest operation was undoubtedly the purchase from Santander of 51% of Popular’s real estate business for €5 billion. But that was not its only bank-related deal. It also acquired the portfolio linked to the property of the now extinct entity CatalunyaCaixa. The fund created the company Anticipa Real Estate to manage those toxic assets and it has been putting some of those foreclosed homes up for rent through its various Socimis: Albirana and Torbel (flats acquired from Sabadell), which are both listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Moreover, one of Blackstone’s first operations was also one of the most contested politically by the leftist groups, when in 2014, it acquired 1,800 social housing properties from the Town Hall of Madrid for around €130 million – those homes currently form part of the portfolio owned by the Socimi Fidere.

Blackstone entered the property market in Spain in 2014 on the hunt for bargains following the crisis, firstly focusing on bank portfolios. But the recent acquisitions of Hispania and Testa take the US giant in another direction. There is enormous liquidity in the market, which has given a great investment capacity to these funds. Now, it is sounding out opportunities in which to invest in through its funds in real estate as an alternative to public debt with higher returns.

This New York-based firm, which is led by Stephen Schwarzman (pictured above) as its President and CEO, is the largest manager of real estate funds in the world, with $19.4 billion in assets under management, according to its results for the first half of the year.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Will Pay Merlin, Santander & BBVA €948M for 50.01% of Testa

18 September 2018 – Cinco Días

Another major movement in the real estate sector and with the same star as the buyer: the US giant Blackstone. After acquiring the Socimi Hispania, which specialises in hotels, the fund has now set its sights on Testa, the largest owner of rental housing in Spain.

Blackstone has already agreed to purchase 50.01% of the Socimi (…) from three of Testa’s largest shareholders (Merlin Properties, Santander and BBVA), according to a statement filed by the real estate company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) on Monday. Nevertheless, Acciona, the other major shareholder, has not sold its stake. The US fund manager is carrying out the operation through the company Tropic Real Estate Holding and is paying €948 million, whereby valuing Testa at €1.895 billion.

Blackstone is paying €14.327 per share. The company’s closing price at the end of trading on Friday was €14, representing a premium of just over 2%.

Blackstone is keeping the offer open for the other shareholders. In fact, the document sent to the exchange by Testa explains that the bidder “has committed to buying all of the remaining shares in the company” under the same conditions.

Testa’s shareholders regard this operation as an exit following their failure to launch a major IPO in June, when the political uncertainty, above all surrounding Italy, caused a surge in the markets. The intention of Merlin, Santander and BBVA (and to a lesser extent Acciona, which wanted to remain as an industrial partner) was to divest their stakes with that great stock market debut. Now they have found an escape route with Blackstone as the buyer.

Merlin also reported on Monday that with this operation, it will raise €321.2 million in exchange for its 16.95% stake in Testa. The funds obtained by Merlin will be used to reduce its debt in line with the objectives set out in the company’s business plan.

BBVA, which owned 25.24% of Testa has also sold all of its shares. Meanwhile, Santander sold just 7.82% of the 36.87% that it held in Testa, which made possible the operation that has given Blackstone control over the entity.

The new Testa Residencial is a listed real estate investment company promoted in 2016 by the banks and Merlin. The latter company had been left with homes following its purchase of the former Testa from Sacyr in 2015; meanwhile, Santander and BBVA contributed rental homes from the property developer Metrovacesa. Finally, last year, Acciona incorporated more than 1,000 homes, worth €340 million, to close the current alliance between the four shareholders.

Testa is currently the market leader in the residential rental sector in Spain. It has a portfolio of 10,615 units, worth €2.675 billion, mainly private housing, with annualised gross rental income of €85 million and an occupancy rate of 91.4%.

Original story: Cinco Días 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Almagro Capital, the Socimi Specialising in Homes for the Elderly, Prepares its MAB Debut

27 July 2018 – Idealista

Increasingly, more and more Socimis specialising in alternative assets are wanting to take their portfolios to the stock market. The latest is Almagro Capital, one of the largest Socimis to specialise in residential assets for the elderly. The company has proposed making its leap onto the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in 2019 and raising €50 million to grow through purchases.

Almagro’s business model focuses on acquiring homes for the elderly whereby the vendors themselves become the tenants of their homes. These investments respond to an increasingly widespread problem in Spain that directly affects the elderly: 90% of people aged over 65 years live in a home that they own and 30% admit to struggling to make ends meet.

Almagro Capital was founded last year by former directors of Lehman Brothers and Merril Lynch. It will be the first Socimi from Orfila to focus its activity in Madrid. The company started with prime flats in the capital since they are assets with less volatility and which can achieve returns for investors of 10% per annum. Chamberí, Chamartín and Goya are the areas where the Socimi is centred.

The real estate vehicle has started the search for new assets, located in the metropolitan areas of the main Spanish cities, such as Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, Salamanca, Granada, Bilbao and Sevilla, amongst others, although it points out that its focus is placed on the Community of Madrid, and more specifically, on the region inside the M-30.

Almagro Capital is planning to make its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in the summer of 2019. Until then, the company will continue to focus on the search for new opportunities in the market and is holding advanced negotiations to buy new assets in Madrid worth between €300,000 and €3 million.

Original story: Idealista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corpfin Sells 13 Commercial Premises to Swiss Life for €83M

10 July 2018 – Idealista News

The Swiss do not only come to Spain to go on holiday. Through its real estate arm, the insurance company Swiss Life has purchased thirteen premises from the fund Corpfin Capital Prime Retail Assets (Ccpr) for €83 million.

The sales have been carried out through the two Corpfin Socimis that are listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB): Corpfin Capital Prime Retail II Socimi (Ccpr II) and Corpfin Capital Prime Retail III Socimi (Ccpr III). The contract for the sale of the portfolio was signed in June, according to Idealista News.

Swiss Life is investing in Spain for the first time. It already tried to enter the  Iberian real estate market with the acquisition of a package of offices from Hispania. The Socimi, which put that portfolio up for sale for €500 million, subsequently pulled out of the sale following the public takeover bid from Blackstone and the political instability in the country.

With assets worth €69.2 billion in the Pan-European market, Swiss Life focuses its investment in the office business, which accounts for 37% of its portfolio, followed by the residential business with 32%. Retail accounts for just 16% of its investments and the remainder of its portfolio is split between the logistics sector, the hotel segment and alternative assets.

In the case of Corpfin, the group founded by Javier Basagoiti created a new Socimi in April with €400 million to invest in high street stores. The roadmap for Basagoiti’s company involves raising €200 million this year to double the capital by the end of 2021.

Original story: Idealista News

Translation: Carmel Drake