Aedas Hires JLL to Sell Portfolio of Rental Homes

17 December 2019 – Aedas Homes announced that it would sell a 1,300-home turnkey project for rental homes. The developer is currently looking for one or more investors to carry out the operation, the largest so far in Spain.

The firm has chosen up to 10 developments throughout Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Alicante and Granada. According to estimates, the transaction would bring in 325 million euros to Aedas’s coffers. JLL is advising on the potential sale.

Should Aedas finalise the sale, it would be the firm’s second disposal of build-to-rent assets. Earlier this year, Aedas sold a portfolio of 500 homes to Ares Management.

Original Story: Idealista

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Ares Creates a Socimi to Invest up to €1bn in Rental Housing in Madrid

7 March 2019 – Idealista

The US fund Ares Management is creating a Socimi to invest up to €1 billion in residential assets for rental in Madrid. The firm wants to benefit from the boom in the rental market in Spain and has already raised €250 million to invest.

Ares first expressed its interest in the market last year when it submitted a bid to acquire Sareb’s rental home Socimi, Témpore. However, that operation was called off by the bad bank in favour of a more orderly sales process (now underway).

Ares is a listed company, founded in 1997, which manages alternative assets worth around USD 88 billion. It has 15 offices in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Original story: Idealista (by C. Pareja & P. Martínez-Almeida)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Offers €90M+ for Lar España’s Logistics Portfolio

14 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Blackstone is expanding its appetite for Spanish real estate. The US fund, which is in the middle of a takeover bid for Hispania’s hotels, is now attacking the industrial real estate market and is finalising the purchase of Lar’s logistics portfolio. The firm could pay more than €90 million for the six assets owned by the listed Socimi.

Lar’s portfolio, which includes one plot of land, a precious commodity in the sector’s current climate, is worth €92 million, according to the most recent appraisal, performed at the end of 2017. The capital appreciation that the Socimi has managed to generate amounts to 40%, according to Expansión.

The operation, in which Blackstone has emerged as the only finalist and which, therefore, is holding exclusive negotiations with the Spanish group, forms part of Lar España’s new strategic plan to divest its position in the logistics market. It is the intention of both parties to sign the sale and purchase contract before the summer.

Lar’s six assets span a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of 169,800 m2 and, since they came onto the market, have attracted interest from large investment funds and international logistics operators. The list of potential suitors has included, in addition to Blackstone, CBRE Global Investors, P3 and Ares Management.

Through this purchase, the US fund is seeking to strengthen its logistics portfolio in Spain. In January, the company paid €90 million for four complexes leased to the supermarket chain Dia. In 2017, the sector set a new historical record with total investment in Spain of €1.5 billion, up by 85% compared to the previous year, according to data from the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vukile Increases Castellana Properties’s Share Capital by €7M to Fund New Purchases

12 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The South African fund Vukile is looking after its investment vehicle in Spain. The Socimi Castellana Properties has increased its share capital by €7 million to undertake new purchases, according to explanations provided by the group to Eje Prime. The company is whereby continuing with its investor appetite, which was sated in May with the purchase of the Habaneras shopping centre for €80.6 million.

“Castellana Properties is immersed in an ambitious growth process”, explain sources at the company. “Last year, the Socimi acquired eleven retail parks in Spain for approximately €300 million, to become a strategic player in the real estate sector and, specifically, in the retail sector”, explain sources at the company.

“The capital increase forms part of this growth strategy; it will allow us to increase the company’s financial capacity to undertake new and exciting projects”, they conclude. Following this increase, the resultant subscribed share capital will amount to €33.4 million. The South African fund Vukile now has a portfolio containing thirteen shopping centres in Spain and an investment made to date of €290 million across the whole Spanish market.

Since last year, the group has closed several operations in the Spanish market. Redevco Iberian Ventures, the joint venture between the real estate company specialising in retail Redevco and funds managed by the global alternative asset manager Ares Management, sold nine retail parks to the Socimi for €193 million.

In December, the group acquired two retail spaces in Granada and Murcia with an investment of €65 million. Alameda Park has a surface area of 25,000 m2 and was acquired for €54.6 million, whilst Pinatar Park occupies 10,637 m2 and involved an outlay of €10.7 million.

The only operation signed by Vukile and Castellana Properties so far this year has been the purchase of the Habaneras shopping centre for more than €80 million. The complex was constructed in 2005 by Metrovacesa. Since then, the asset has passed through the hands of Unibail-Rodamco, in 2008 and Harbert, which acquired Habaneras for €65 million.

That centre has a gross leasable area of 24,158 m2 and contains 70 stores distributed over three floors and more than 800 parking spaces. Its tenants include operators such as Zara and H&M. The Habaneras shopping centre received 4 million visitors last year and recorded operating revenues of €5 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar España Excites the Market with its Logistics Portfolio

23 April 2018 – Expansión

The Socimi, which owns five complexes in Guadalajara and Valencia, has received a dozen offers for its assets, all of them for a price of more than €75 million.

Some of the players that have bid for Lar España’s logistics portfolio include the US fund Blackstone, P3 Logistic Parks – a platform controlled by the Singapore sovereign fund -, Palm Capital, CBRE Global Investors, Ares Management and Nuveen, according to market sources speaking to Expansión.

In the logistics sector, the Socimi in which the fund manager Pimco holds a stake, owns four complexes in the municipality of Alovera (Guadalajara), in the heart of the Corredor del Henares.

Together, that site comprises ten logistics warehouses with a total constructed surface area of 142,630 m2 occupied by tenants such as Saint Gobain Isover Ibérica, Tech Data, Carrefour and Factor 5. In addition, the Socimi owns a logistics complex in Almussafes (Valencia) containing a logistics warehouse with a constructed surface area of 19,211 m2. That warehouse is occupied by Valautomoción, the supplier of car parts and accessories to Ford, which was acquired by Ferrostaal in 2015.

According to the latest figures published by the Socimi, its portfolio of logistics assets has a valuation of almost €90 million. Moreover, Lar owns around 200,000 m2 of space for a new logistics development in Cheste (Valencia), which it is not planning to sell until it has finished construction there, to make the investment profitable, according to information reported by the company at the time.

According to Lar’s accounts, the land, which it purchased less than a year ago from Bertolín, has doubled in value since the investment was made. The Socimi paid €2.2 million for the 112,813 m2 plot in Cheste in May 2017 and, at the end of last year, it had a market value of €5.2 million.

Other divestments

Lar España has launched an asset rotation plan to raise cash and undertake new investments in shopping centres After selling two office buildings to Colonial, both in Madrid, for €112 million, the company now has three office buildings in Madrid and Barcelona worth around €85 million.

Moreover, it expects to raise €110 million from the sale of its stake in the luxury residential development Lagasca 99 (Madrid), which it owns jointly with Pimco.

In parallel, the company is going to maintain its investment plan. It expects to allocate €220 million to new acquisitions in retail centres and parks and will invest €247 million in developments, especially commercial ones, and another €49 million on improving its assets.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Finalises Sale Of Parque Corredor To Redevco & Ares

6 April 2017 – El Confidencial

One of the most entangled real estate operations in recent times is about to see the light. Namely, the sale of the Parque Corredor shopping centre, a giant in the retail sector, with a surface area of 123,000 m2 and 180 stores, located in the Madrilenian town of Torrejón de Ardoz, which Sareb has been trying to sell for four years.

It is the commercial jewel in the crown of the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen. The bad bank is the main shareholder, with 40% of the share capital, which it inherited from Catalunya Caixa. But, until now, that stake had been insufficient to convince any buyer, given that it does not guarantee control over the centre. Nevertheless, Sareb has teamed up with Perella to sell their shares to Redevco and Area Group en bloc, a move that will allow the new owners to acquire almost 60% of the share capital. All of the parties have declined to make comments.

The operation has been on the cards for months and although it has not been completed yet, according to the sources consulted by El Confidencial, conversations are in an advanced stage and are likely to come to fruition. El Corte Inglés may play an important role in the outcome given that together with Alcampo, it owns another 25% of the centre’s share capital, and their stake could also end up forming part of the transaction.

Sareb is being advised in the operation by Knight Frank, Perella is being advised by Cushman & Wakefield, whilst Redevco and Ares are working with Deloitte.

Depending on the total percentage that ends up being acquired, the final amount of the operation could reach €120 million, whereby valuing the entire centre at around €200 million, an amount that would allow Parque Corredor to join the growing number of shopping centres whose sales have exceeded €100 million, such as Xanadú (€530 million), Diagonal Mar (€495 million), Puerto Venecia (€451 million), Plenilunio (€375 million), Gran Vía Vigo (€145 million), Nassica (€140 million) and L’Aljub and Alcalá Magna (both €100 million).

Shopping centre alliance

Redevco and Area Management decided to join forces a year and a half ago, when they created a joint venture, Redevco Iberian Ventures, endowed with €500 million of capital and with the aim of acquiring shopping centres in Spain and Portugal. The new company was constituted with six assets, contributed by the two shareholders, and the objective of closing several acquisitions. The first was completed last spring, when it purchased six shopping centres in Extremadura and Andalucia, with a combined surface area of 84,250 m2, from Bogaris for €95 million. (…).

With Parque Corredor, the joint venture is acquiring a great asset near to the Spanish capital, but it needs significant renovation work, and the associated investment is estimated to amount to around €15 million, according to real estate sources. (…).

The shopping centre receives 10 million visitors per year and its tenants include Primark, H&M, Kiabi, Alcampo, Toys “R” Us and Cinesa cinemas. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Banks & Funds Bid For Citi’s Real Estate Legacy

31 May 2016 – Expansión

Citi’s real estate legacy in Spain is up for auction. Two US funds, Ares Management and York Capital, have put real estate loans and foreclosed assets amounting to €180 million up for sale, and banks and opportunistic investors are bidding to acquire the portfolio.

Around half of the portfolio comprises mortgages, of which the majority are up to date (in terms of their repayments), whilst the rest are homes and other assets that the funds have acquired as a result of non-payment (by borrowers).

Ares Management and York Capital purchased these assets from Citi in Spain at the beginning of the crisis, as they took advantage of the fact that the US entity was withdrawing from certain activities. That was further reflected last year with the sale of its credit card and retail banking business to Banco Popular.

Resale of assets

The strategy to resell assets is common amongst the opportunistic funds, either because they have already obtained the expected returns or because they believe that they can obtain a higher price by selling the portfolio at a particular time.

For example, that is exactly what Fortress did recently, with the sale of Geslico, the former recoveries platform of the savings banks, to the Norwegian group Axactor. The same fund has been selling off other assets in Spain, just like other funds that arrived in Spain and purchased assets between 2011 and 2012.

The operation is being advised by N+1, under the name Project Firefox, and the first offers are expected to be received within the next few days, according to sources at the funds.

In addition to this portfolio, last year, Citi sold another portfolio to Evo Banco from the fund Apollo, containing €370 million of mortgages and 200 properties.

In parallel, the US bank sold its retail banking and credit card business to Popular for €240 million. The Spanish entity acquired a portfolio of 1.2 million clients, around €2,300 million assets under management, €2,000 million in deposits, a network of 45 bank branches and a workforce comprising 950 employees. Moreover, it acquired 1.1 million credit cards, which have a total outstanding loan balance of €1,400 million.

Project Firefox will have to compete with the avalanche of real estate asset portfolios that the Spanish banks have put on the market in the last month, with Bankia, CaixaBank, Sabadell, BBVA, Santander, Cajamar and Abanca, amongst others, all offering up assets for sale.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Redevco Iberian Ventures Buys 6 Retail Parks From Bogaris For €95M

27 April 2016 – Expansión

The shopping centres are located in Extremadura and Andalucía and have a combined surface area of 84,250 m2.

Redevco Iberian Ventures, the joint venture created between Redecvo and the funds managed by Ares Management, has acquired six retail parks located in Extremadura and Andalucía from the property developer Bogaris for approximately €95 million.

The parks, which have a combined surface area of 84,250 m2, are leased almost in their entirety to tenants such as the supermarket chains Mercadona, Aldi and Día, the fashion brands C&A, Kiabi and Merkal Calzados, and operators Burger King, Media Markt, Sprinter and Aki Bricolaje.

Specifically, the parks are: Mejostilla, in Cáceres; Kinepolis Pulianas, in Granada; Marismas del Polvorín, in Huelva; La Heredad, in Mérida; Retail Park, in Motril; and La Serena, in Villanueva de la Serena.

Ares and Redevco announced the creation of Redevco Iberian Ventures in September 2015 and following this operation, the total capital invested by the joint venture now exceeds €200 million. JLL and Deloitte acted as advisors to Redevco Iberian Ventures in the operation.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake