Tag: analysis

Sabadell Puts ‘Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios’ Up for Sale

19 January 2019 – El Periódico 

Banco Sabadell has launched the sales process of Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios (SDIN), the company that owns the bank’s land and which carries out its real estate development projects in Spain. On Friday, the entity placed the sales brochure for the firm in the hands of possible buyers, including international real estate funds, such as Cerberus, Blackstone, Värde and Oaktree, amongst others, according to confirmation provided by real estate sources. The process, regarding which the bank itself has declined to comment, could go on until April. The time necessary for buyers to express their interest and conduct analysis of the company for sale.

The process to sell the development company is beginning just a month after the bank chaired by Josep Oliu completed the sale of 80% of its servicer – real estate manager – to Lindorff Holding Spain, a company that belongs to the Swedish fund Intrum, after it fought off competition from the funds Cerberus and Centricus, which were also bidding for the real estate subsidiary. In that operation, Solvia was valued at €300 million. The price corresponded to 80% of the stake in the company, which could be increased by a maximum amount of €40 million if certain conditions, relating to the performance of some of Solvia’s lines of business, are met. The completion of the operation is scheduled for the second half of 2019.

Maturity period

SDIN is in the maturity period for its sale, according to sources familiar with the operation. The firm has a stock of more than 300 buildable plots, which are worth around €1.2 billion and has almost 130 developments underway across different parts of Spain, with more than 5,000 homes under construction. The size of the portfolio of SDIN, which is led by Francisco Pérez (pictured above), places it in the second league in the sector ranking, just behind the listed property developers, led by Metrovacesa, Neinor, Aedas and Vía Célere. Only Sareb has more assets (…).

Original story: El Periódico (by Max Jiménez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankinter Launches A €400M Socimi For Its Private Banking Clients

27 December 2016 – Expansión

Bankinter has started to offer its private banking clients a new investment project. It is a Socimi, which the entity plans to launch on the MAB in around two months time. This entity will invest in commercial assets, such as supermarket, hypermarkets, retail premises and parks, as well as bank branches, in sought-after locations. The aim is to invest around €400 million in assets, of which around €200 million will come from contributions made by the entity’s clients and the remaining 50% from financing. The minimum investment per client will be €250,000, up to a maximum of 10% of their financial wealth.

For the launch of this investment vehicle, Bankinter has sought a partner with experience in the Spanish real estate market and in the management of commercial assets. The Portuguese real estate company Sonae Sierra, which owns more than 40 international projects in Europe, Africa and South America, seven of which are located in Spain, will take care of the search for and management of the assets that the Socimi buys. Like Bankinter, it will hold a minority stake in the new company, and two of its representatives will sit on the Board of Directors and on the Investment Committee.

Meanwhile, the bank led by María Dolores Dancausa will have three Board members and two representatives on the Investment Committee.

Anchor investors

The two partners will invest a maximum of €15 million in the case of Bankinter, with a minimum of €7.5 million; and €7.5 million in the case of Sonae, with a minimum of €3.75 million, if they achieve €200 million in equity for the upcoming stock market debut.

The Socimi will focus on buying commercial properties located mainly in Spain (the idea is that Spanish assets will account for 65% of the total portfolio) and the rest in Portugal. The minimum investment volume by operation will be €5 million to €20 million per asset or per portfolio of properties.

All of the assets that the Socimi acquires must be in good locations with long-term contracts that will run for at least five years. Its potential tenants include retail groups such as Mercadona, Carrefour and Día and other large operators such as Leroy Merlin and Decathlon.

Although the investment vehicle does not own any assets yet, it is already analysing ten operations, having made a series of non-binding offers. These deals include the purchase of a portfolio of hypermarkets worth €150 million and the acquisition of a retail park for around €20 million.

The Socimi hopes to achieve a gross asset value yield of between 6% and 6.5% during the first two years, which is higher than the returns offered by other listed real estate companies such as Axiare, Merlin and Realia, which this year expect to offer yields of 4.8%, 3.2% and 4.5%, respectively, according to information provided by Bankinter to its potential investors.

The aim of this Socimi is to offer an average annual dividend of between 4.5% and 5%, which is a much higher return than those offered by other banking products currently on the market. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL España Plans To Double Revenues By 2020

14 April 2016 – Expansión

JLL España, the consulting firm that specialises in real estate management has appointed Enrique Losantos (pictured above) as its new CEO. Until now, Mr Losantos has served as the Director General of the Investor Business area, a task that he will continue to combine with his new responsibilities as the head of the company.

In a meeting with Expansión, Losantos has fleshed out the business plan that he will have to execute as the company’s most senior executive. The new CEO of JLL España explained that the consultancy firm’s strategy involves strengthening its Corporate Solutions area, to bring it in line (in terms of weight) with the Investor Business area, and to provide new value added services that place the customer at the centre and that operates “ by project, not by product”.

Losantos explained that this new strategic focus will allow the group to offset the different economic cycles. “This model behaves well in times of a cyclical change, because both areas complement each other”, he said. Thanks to these two main business lines and the strategic purchases that JLL is analysing, the professional services firm expects to double its turnover in Spain by 2020, from €58 million in 2015.

Strategic purchases

In terms of acquisitions, Losantos did not provide details about the type of company, or the amount of forecast investment, but he did reveal that they are assessing local companies with operations in Europe, as well as European companies with activities in Spain that generate added value and provide additional services. “We are responsible for studying the local businesses, meanwhile the global acquisitions department analyses (overseas) companies with businesses in Spain”, he said.

Losantos said that JLL considered purchasing Tinsa, which the market valued at around €300 million, but that it ruled out that operation on the basis that it did not generate the required value. “We have the capability to make investments of that kind and we have authorisation from the Board to submit deals of that size or even larger, but we are going to focus on operations that have basic economic rationale and that generate value for the company. In this case, we thought that those conditions were not met, for several reasons”, added Losantos. JLL España’s other priorities include digital transformation and investment in technology and big data.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake