Ana Botella & 7 of Her Officials Sentenced to Pay €22.7M for the Sale of Flats to Vulture Funds

28 December 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The Court of Auditors has sentenced the former mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella (pictured below) and six high-ranking officials of her municipal Government to pay €22.5 million for the sale of 1,860 publicly owned flats to two companies owned by Blackstone, considered to be a vulture fund, for a price below that stipulated by the market in 2013. Another senior official, Fermín Osle, has been sentenced to pay more than €3 million for his role as the “accountant directly responsible” for the operation.

The ruling, revealed by Cadena Ser, concludes that the eight people now condemned “engaged in serious negligence” by not preventing “damage to public property” by selling the homes for €128.5 million when, according to the calculations of the Court of Auditors, Botella’s Executive could have received proceeds of more than €151 million.

The sentence is based on a claim filed a year ago by the current Government of the Spanish capital, led by Manuela Carmena, through the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS). The ruling determines that the operations carried out by the Municipal Housing Company that reported into the Government “led to an unjustified impairment of public property”, which they estimate amounted to €23 million.

The other condemned officials are Enrique Núñez Guijarro, Diego Sanjuanbenito, Paz González García, Dolores Navarro, Pedro Corral and Concepción Dancausa, former delegate of the Government of Madrid.

They will appeal the sentence

The former mayor and her then municipal government team are going to appeal the sentence, according to sources, after hearing the content of the ruling, since “they do not agree with it”. They also noted that the Prosecutor of the court has already requested the dismissal of this claim “for not having any accounting responsibility”.

In the same way, they have indicated that the previous Governing Board of the Town Hall of Madrid “did not intervene directly or indirectly in the operation to sell the homes” to which the decision by the Court of Auditors refers. “Only, and in its capacity as the General Shareholders’ Meeting of the aforementioned company, did they ratify the feasibility plan that the EMVS’s Board of Directors had already approved”, they highlighted.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Carlos Frías)

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Fund Ojirel Buys a 7,360m2 Warehouse in Madrid

6 November 2018 – Eje Prime

International funds are continuing to back the Spanish logistics sector. The investment firm Organa III, created by the French real estate investment company Ojirel, has just acquired an industrial warehouse spanning 7,360 m2 in Madrid.

The asset, located in the municipality of San Agustín de Guadalix, was owned by a Spanish company specialising in logistics services. The contract specifies that the warehouse will continue to be operated by its previous tenant, a German multi-national specialising in automotive spare parts, for five more years.

The operation, which has been advised by the real estate consultancy firm Iremcap, “shows the growing interest from French real estate investment funds in the acquisition of real estate assets in Spain”, according to sources at the consultancy firm.

Madrid is one of the magnets in the country for logistics investors. Although the spectrum of the sector is increasingly broad and is spanning increasingly more regions, the area surrounding the Spanish capital is the most attractive for 63% of those surveyed in the latest edition of the International Logistic Fair (SIL), which is organised every year by the company Prologis.

That is also reflected in the numbers. 632,000 m2 of logistics space was leased in the Spanish capital during the first half of 2018. Similarly, more than half of the assets leased corresponded to warehouses with a surface area of more than 20,000 m2, according to the latest report published by CBRE.

Due to the boom in e-commerce, in particular, the market for industrial centres and warehouses in Spain is currently one of the strongest in Europe. Despite the high demand for assets, in cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, just 4% of stock is available, which is driving up rental prices. The experts indicate that the main challenge facing logistics firms between now and 2022 is how to “adapt existing properties to the new needs of companies”.

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s CNMC Takes Madrid, Bilbao & San Sebastián to Court Over Anti-Airbnb Legislation

7 August 2018 – El País

The competition authorities are cracking down on the attempt by some of Spain’s large Town Halls to regulate the boom in tourist apartments, created by Airbnb and its competitors, which many blame for contributing to an increase in residential rental prices and the expulsion of the most underprivileged from the centre of Spain’s cities. The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) announced on Tuesday that it is going to challenge the urban planning rules approved recently in Madrid, Bilbao and San Sebastián on the basis that they violate “competition” and harm consumers and users. Other rules, not yet in force, in Barcelona and Valencia, could also be targetted by the CNMC, warn sources at the agency.

Imposing a compulsory licence on those who rent their homes to tourists. Limiting the types of properties that may be leased for short periods. They are some of the measures introduced by the Town Halls that the CNMC is now challenging. And the battle doesn’t stop there. New rules that other cities decide to approve may also clash with the opinion of the market regulator, which is now sending the cases of Madrid, Bilbao and San Sebastián to the High Court of their respective autonomous regions. They will have to decide whether to admit the appeals and overturn, in part or in whole, the municipal regulations.

The body chaired by José María Marín Quemada said that it has sent a request to the three municipalities to provide explanations regarding the “need and proportionality” of the restrictions or, failing that, for those restrictions to be annulled. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the CNMC will resort to the courts through a contentious-administrative appeal. The informal talks held so far have made very clear the gulf that separates the independent body from the Town Halls.

In its note, the CNMC details the different regulations that are, in its opinion, deserving of appeal for being measures with “restrictive effects on competition”. Madrid requires a licence for the rental of tourist apartments and homes. The municipality also establishes a period of one year, extendable for one more, before new licences can be granted in areas such as the Centro district. According to the recently approved legislation, the rental of tourist apartments that do not have an independent entrance will be prohibited, which represents 95% of the homes in the city centre.

In both Bilbao and San Sebastián, the regulations limit tourist apartments to ground and first floors only, unless they have independent access from the street. In Bilbao, moreover, tourist apartments need to be authorised and registered; and in San Sebastián new tourist apartments are prohibited in certain parts of the centre.

Higher prices

The Competition authority believes that, with their decisions, the municipal teams in Madrid, Bilbao and San Sebastián “are impeding the entry of new operators and consolidating the position of the existing suppliers of tourist accommodation”. The body has announced that these measures will lead to “higher prices in terms of tourist accommodation” and lower quality, investment and innovation in tourist accommodation in those three cities (…).

The affected municipalities reacted quickly, stating that they will defend their regulations in the courts. The Town Hall of Madrid, governed by Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid) said that it wants to combine the defence of tourism with the rights of “citizens in our neighbourhoods”, according to Julio Núñez. “Our objective is introduce regulation that protects the residential use of land and favours competition in a sector where hostels and hotels already operate”, add sources at the Urban Planning Department (…).

Original story: El País (by Luis Doncel)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colau to Force 30% of New Build Homes to be Allocated to Social Housing

13 June 2018 – La Vanguardia

The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, is going to force house builders that are constructing new homes or undertaking major renovation projects in the Catalan capital to allocate 30% of their buildings to social housing. This proposal from the Government’s team will be taken to the municipal plenary at the end of this month and threatens to generate a fierce legal battle between property developers and the Town Hall. The legal consequences are expected to be even more profound than those brought about by the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation (Peuat), which has been the subject of more than one hundred appeals.

The initiative proposes two modifications to the existing General Metropolitan Plan (PGM), which will need agreement from the municipal groups if they are to be approved initially. One of them establishes the bases to oblige private property developers to contribute to the creation of social housing. The other involves extending the Town Hall’s right of first refusal across the whole city, in such a way that the administration will have preferential rights for the acquisition of estates in all sale and purchase transactions.

This proposal can be traced back to a requirement launched a few months ago by the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), which demanded that the Town Hall apply this percentage – 30% – to property developers in an obligatory to expand the public stock of housing. Ada Colau, who in February hired Carlos Macías, one of the spokesmen for the PAH, as an advisor, is hereby looking to satisfy that entity, for which she used to work as an activist and which has openly criticised her housing policies on more than one occasion.

Nevertheless, the urban modification project, which the BComú government has forged with the utmost secrecy and without the involvement of any trade associations or other affected agents, has infuriated the sector, which warns of the dangerous effects that this measure may generate. They include the risk of paralysing real estate activity at a time of recovery and the consequent legal battle to annul these plans.

The document, prepared by municipal experts in collaboration with Barcelona Regional, has been sent to municipal groups to start conversations and try to make progress in a meeting today towards its approval by the Urban Planning Committee next week. After overcoming that process, if the first obstacle is indeed overcome, the proposal will be discussed in the plenary. Even so, it still has a long way to go before it could come into force.

The modification would affect all new build or major renovation projects that have an urbanistic housing roof (surface area) of more than 600 m2, in practice, the vast majority of real estate developments in the city. According to the document, they would be obliged to “allocate at least 30% of those roofs to public housing”. The properties could be sold or leased but must be located in the same building (…). If the proposal goes ahead and overcomes all of the legal processes, it will become normal for residents of luxury homes in the city to live alongside residents of social housing properties (…).

If the current rate of construction in Barcelona continues over the next few years, if Ada Colau’s government manages to push through her proposal and if the inevitable legal appeals rule in favour of the Town Hall, then the initiative to allocate 30% of new build homes to social housing could increase the city’s public housing stock by 400 units per year. In 2017, 1,373 new homes were started in the Catalan capital (…).

Original story: La Vanguardia (by Silvia Angulo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Large Funds Get Involved in Popular’s Criminal Lawsuit

31 January 2018 – Expansión

The large funds Pimco, Anchorage, Algebris and Cairn are participating in the criminal case that the Spanish High Court is investigating against the former directors of Popular.

These funds, which lost almost €850 million following the resolution of the bank, have appealed the resolution decision taken by the Single Resolution Board (JUR) before the European Court of Justice and the resolution of the Frob before the Spanish High Court. Specifically, Anchorage, Algebris and Ronit have appealed to the European Court of Justice and Pimco, Anchorage, Algebris, Ronit and Cairn have appealed to the Spanish High Court.

On 4 October 2017, judge Fernando Andreu admitted for processing the first lawsuits against the former directors of Popular and PwC. Most of them are focused on the capital increase made in 2016 and against Ángel Ron and his Board for improper management, falsification of documents and misappropriation. Lawsuits have also been filed against Emilio Saracho and the management of the most recent executive team.

The debtholders are being represented in Spain by Andersen Tax & Legal and SLJ Abogados and in the EU by Quinn Emanuel.

Richard East, Managing Partner at Quinn Emanuel, explains: “The plaintiffs filed serious accusations that the Spanish High Court has agreed to investigate. The funds want to be informed and to collaborate in this investigation to determine the existence of falsehoods in the process”.

Original story: Expansión (by Mercedes Serraller)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Unblocks Sale Of Ciudad Financiera After AGC’s Mega-Offer

15 September 2017 – Voz Pópuli

The soap opera involving the sale of Santander’s Ciudad Financiera is closer than ever to being resolved. The Arab fund AGC Equity Partners, Santander and the majority of the creditors have reached an understanding to unblock the process, which has been stalled for three years, after the company that administers Santander’s global headquarters, Marme Inversiones 2007, filed for bankruptcy.

The key has been the size of the new offer presented in recent months by AGC, amounting to around €2,800 million, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. With this proposal, all of the creditors would receive the amounts due to them and there would even be some funds left over to share out amongst Marme’s original shareholders: the property magnate Glenn Maud and the fund Aabar Investments, controlled by IPIC, which owns Cepsa.

AGC has already informed the judge handling the bankruptcy – at Mercantile Court number 9 in Madrid – that the situation is now ready to be unblocked. But the magistrate has left everything hinging on the Provincial Court, which still has to resolve several prior appeals. Various sources consulted indicate that these resolutions could be resolved by the end of this year or the beginning of 2018. Then the formal auction of the company that owns the Ciudad Financiera could be launched, with AGC as the main favourite, assuming no last minute surprises.

Santander’s role

One of the keys behind sorting out the sale of the Ciudad Financiera is that Santander has withdrawn an appeal that threatened to perpetuate the bankruptcy process. In this way, the bank chaired by Ana Botín, advised by Clifford Chance, decided to submit a letter alleging that the Marme liquidation plan was not taking into accounts its right to sound out the market (for potential buyers).

In addition, Santander engaged Goldman Sachs to look for offers that would better fit with their interests. Paradoxically, the firm that is now best positioned to win – AGC – is the same one that blocked the bank’s appeal. According to legal sources, Santander pays an annual rent of around €110 million for the property and the rental contract runs until 2048, neither of which would vary under the new owner. But there are other clauses in the agreement that would be changed in favour of Santander.

The final stumbling block is the position of two of the players that invested in Marme Inversiones after it filed for bankruptcy: Aabar Investment, which purchased the shares of one of the original shareholders, the British businessman Derek Quinlan, and which would like to buy the Ciudad Financiera itself; and the Luxembourg company Edgeworth Capital, led by the controversial Iranian banker Robert Tchenguiz.

Sources close to the process think that it will be hard for their appeals to gain traction in the face of AGC’s willingness to repay all the creditors; something that no other investor has offered until now. The other recent offers amounted to between €2,400 million and €2,500 million.

Origin of the problem

Marme Inversiones 2007 filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after it was unable to pay its debts. The company was created in 2008 with very heavy financial burdens, at the worst time, shortly after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Marme paid €1,900 million for Santander’s headquarters in Boadilla del Monte.

Now the situation is just the opposite. The good times in the market mean that obtaining financing is cheaper than it has been for the last decade, something that AGC wants to take full advantage of to seal this complex operation.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

FCC Wins Legal Ruling Against Blackstone & Goldman Sachs

1 December 2016 – Expansión

A judge from the Commercial Court in Barcelona has dismissed the lawsuit filed by GSO, one of the funds owned by Blackstone, and by Goldman Sachs against the legal agreement approved for the refinancing of FCC‘s debt. As a result of the agreement, the construction company had managed to refinance a tranche of its debt (€1,350 million) at a significant discount (but GSO and Goldmans opposed the deal).

Although the refinancing was backed by 93% of FCC’s creditors, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs opposed the operation and appealed to the courts for damages caused amounting to around €295 million. The judge has now rejected their claim, which cannot be appealed to a higher court.

In January 2015, the Commercial Court of Barcelona validated the judicial approval, which allowed the Spanish construction company to apply a discount and reduce the cost of a tranche of its corporate debt amounting to €1,350 million.

The law firm Linklaters advised FCC in the financial restructuring process and has defended the interests of the construction group against the lawsuit filed by the funds. Uría also acted on behalf of the banks (Bankia, BBVA and CaixaBank), who participated in the lawsuit as a party affected by the appeal, whilst a lawyer from Jones Day defended the interests of GSO and Goldman Sachs.

93% of the banking syndicate accepted the new financing conditions, which basically involved accepting a discount of 15% through the repayment of debt amounting to €900 million using €765 million raised during the company’s most recent capital increase. The outstanding loan balance, around €450 million, is being repaid at (an interest rate of) 5%.

The opposing creditors included overseas investment funds such as Blackstone (GSO) and credit institutions such as Burlington and Ice Focus. The foreign banks included Goldmans, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch, amongst others. GSO and Goldmans ended up taking the case to court, but the judge has ruled against them.

The claimants tried to link the lawsuit in Barcelona with an appeal in London where another group of FCC creditors has filed a case for the early repayment of their investment through the issue of convertible bonds amounting to €450 million because they considered that the Spanish company had breached one of the suspensive clauses of the contract relating to the non-payment of debt (default). Blackstone (through GSO Capital) was one of the London-based claimants. Given the legal protected afforded to bondholders in London, FCC was obliged to suspend the process to convert bonds amounting to €32.75 million.

In the ruling in Spain, the judge in Barcelona rejected the existence of a link between the resolution regarding the early execution of the bonds and the validity of the restructuring of FCC’s debt.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán and G. Trindade)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Record Fines For Airbnb & HomeAway in Barcelona

25 November 2016 – Expansión

Airbnb and HomeAway are going to be fined €600,000 each by the Town Hall of Barcelona. The Town Hall, led by Ada Colau (pictured above), will fine both tourist accommodation platforms for continuing to advertise unlicensed apartments.

The mayoress of the city announced the decision yesterday, explaining that the fines will be imposed because both companies have ignored the Town Hall’s request to stop advertising illegal tourist apartments and provide data about the properties.

The first fine amounted to €30,000 for each technological company, but given that both portals continued their activity, the classification of the infringement has now been upgraded from serious to very serious, and the fine has increased to €600,000 for each firm, the maximum permitted under the Tourism Law.

The files have already been signed and the firms will be notified about the fines shortly. The amount of the sanction will reflect: the number of adverts published – 3,812 in the case of Airbnb and 1,744 in the case of HomeAway, according to the Town Hall –; the economic benefit they obtain; their dominant position in the market; and the recurrence of the infringement.

A fine of €30,000 has been maintained for other portals, including: Fotocasa, Open House, TripAdvisor, OnlyApartments, 9flats, Niumba and Rent4days.

Airbnb’s response

The US platform Airbnb, led in Spain by Arnaldo Muñoz in Barcelona, announced its decision to appeal the fine.

“This is a sad decision and Airbnb is going to appeal; less than a month ago a meeting was held between representatives of the Town Hall and Airbnb, where it was agreed that we would work together to support the city’s interests”, said the portal in a statement. Sources at the platform consider that “Airbnb is part of the solution in Barcelona, we want to be a strong ally in the cities in which we operate and we will continue to seek open dialogue with the Town Hall”.

According to Airbnb, there are contradictions in Barcelona’s tourist policies, which favour commercial operators and apartments dedicated solely to tourism in tourist areas, to the detriment of people who want to open up their own homes.

“We have to differentiate between professionals who operate lots of tourist apartments and individuals who rent out their homes from time to time”, say sources at Airbnb. The portal regrets that “Barcelona is resisting what is happening in most other cities in the world”. The portal has reached agreements with more than 200 cities and regions.

Original story: Expansión (by Tina Díaz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín: BBVA Prepares To Denounce Carmena

5 July 2016 – Cinco Días

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, Antonio Béjar, has revealed that the company’s legal team will present an appeal to the High Court of Justice in Madrid (TSJM) within the next few weeks to denounce the nullity of the decision taken by the Town Hall to reject this project under development, known as Operación Chamartín.

In an interview with Europa Press, Béjar also detailed that “later on” and if the “blocking” situation continues, DCN’s legal team will submit a claim for damage to property and economic losses against the Town Hall after it rejected its plans without any technical basis, even though they fulfil the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, the entity driven by BBVA and Grupo San José, expressed his “disappointment” at the position adopted by the Town Hall for denying its development plan based on “primarily political criteria, with no technical or legal basis”.

Regarding whether the outcome of the elections may change the Town Hall’s position and facilitate negotiations, Béjar said that the municipal government team has expressed “publically that its position was going to mainly depend” on the political decision taken by the Ministry of Development (Ana Pastor is a supporter of DCN’s project) in the event that there is a change in government.

“The Town Hall will have to take a decision in this regard. Meanwhile, we will not rest on our laurels, it is our duty to defend our rights when we understand that they have not been adequately addressed”, said the President of DCN.

“We are convinced that the courts will overturn the Town Hall’s decision, we consider that the reasons employed have no legal grounds”, he added to indicate that, according to the criteria set forth in its appeal, the Town Hall may only reject the definitive approval of the plan if it is able to cite reasons of general interest, whereas, in his opinion, the Town Hall has cited “minor formal reasons”. (…).

Meanwhile, Béjar confirmed that the Town Hall’s “blocking” of the development of Operación Chamartín, by rejecting its plan and presenting its own plan for Madrid Puerta Norte, is “detrimental” for Madrilenians. According to him, the municipal alternative is “not feasible and cannot be carried out in practice”.

“Madrid Puerta Norte – the Town Hall’s alternative project – is a proposal designed to drive out private initiatives…and to allow the public administrations to become the next property developers, using taxpayers’ money…” said the President of DCN. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Foreign Socimis Arrive In Spain To Compete With The Locals

10 June 2016 – El Economista

Spain’s Socimis have come face to face with a new competitor. The appeal of the real estate sector has brought their foreign counterparts to Spain; they are interested in the same type of assets and some are even willing to assume more risk.

Although their arrival will generate more competition between the Spanish vehicles, the truth is that this news is being welcomed by all players in the sector, as they consider it to be yet another sign that the market is entering a new phase of its recovery.

The first to arrive in Spain following the crisis were the French, operating through SCPI (Société Civile de Placements Immobiliers); they are now ready to close transactions with more risk. Nevertheless, the experts in the sector indicate that it won’t be long before other more core profiles arrive, such as the British, Dutch and Americans.

The Socimi Actipierre Europe has already taken its first steps in Spain with two operations amounting to around €25 million. The firm, which focuses solely on commercial assets and is able to make 40% of its investments outside of France (but within the European Union) acquired the Tres Caminos Retail Park in Puerto Real (Cádiz).

According to sources in the sector, the transaction value amounted to approximately €14.5 million. The retail park has a constructed surface area of 20,270 sqm and 820 parking spaces.

The French Socimi, which has a market capitalisation of €430 million and was created in September 2007, has also purchased a retail outlet leased to MediaMarkt in the Les Gavarres de Tarragone Retail Park.

The vendor of that asset was Corum Asset Management, which had owned the property since 2013. In just three years, it generated gains of almost 50% on its capital investment. The Socimi, advised by Invesco, has paid €9.7 million, whilst Corum paid €7.4 million at the time with a return of 8.1%. In addition, Corum received two years worth of rental income.

These kinds of transactions are attracting a lot of attention from other international investors, which see significant opportunities to generate gains from Spanish assets in just a few years. As a result, experts predict that there will be quite a few operations in Spain over the coming months, financed by capital from France.

Favourable context

The experts also say that with interest rates at 0% “and the volatility of the Asian and European stock markets, investor interest in real estate assets has increased even further”. As such, “the combination of surplus liquidity and the return of possible operations involving prime assets, which are now appearing in the market, could accelerate the arrival of these vehicles”.

The experts highlight another statistic that is very interesting for investors – the fact that the yield on non prime assets in secondary cities has decreased from 8.12% to 6.50% in about two years, a compression that is already very similar to that seen in the case of prime products in the major cities, such as Barcelona and Madrid.

This situation favours the arrival of investment in Spain and softens the impact being generated by the political uncertainty in the country.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake