Ministry of Defence Puts Several Plots up for Sale in Madrid for €75M

10 June 2019 – Eje Prime

The Ministry of Defence is putting several plots of land up for sale on Calle Isaac Peral, 32, in Madrid, for €75 million. The deadline for bids is 3 September, and the auction will be held a fortnight later.

The plots are for residential use and the largest one has a buildability of 7,462 m2 with an asking price of €6.6 million. The smallest plot has a buildability of 3,000 m2 and an asking price of €2.6 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Sabadell’s Board Evaluates 3 Offers Amounting to c. €850M For its Property Developer

28 May 2019 – El Confidencial

On Monday, Banco Sabadell received three binding offers for its property developer, Sabadell Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, from the funds Cerberus, Oaktree and a third unknown candidate, amounting to between €800 million and €900 million.

The board of directors of the Catalan entity chaired by Josep Oliu now needs to decide whether to accept one of them and thereby pave the way for the creation of a new major player in the Spanish property developer sector to compete alongside the likes of Neinor, Metrovacesa, Vía Célere and Aedas.

Oaktree has been the favourite in the bidding for the last few months given its good relationship with Sabadell and with the property developer itself, with which it already operates at least one joint venture. It would represent the US investor’s first operation of its kind in Spain, where it currently has a small platform with just 20 employees.

Nevertheless, Cerberus has been gaining ground. Unlike Oaktree, the US giant already has a property development platform in Spain, Inmoglacier, to which it wants to supply new land (which SDin owns). Cerberus could also benefit from synergies between the two firms.

Meanwhile, the identity of the third candidate remains confidential, but possible contenders include Habitat (Bain Capital), Aedas and the Canadian fund CPPIB, which were all reported to be evaluating the purchase during the preliminary phase.

Initially, Sabadell was hoping to receive more than €1 billion for its property developer, but following uncertainty in the sector in recent months and the sale of several assets, it will have to accept a more modest price if a sale is to be agreed.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Offers for Gescobro Fall Short of Cerberus’s Asking Price

13 May 2019 – La Información

Cerberus Capital Management cannot find a buyer for Gescobro. The US investment fund put the debt recovery specialist on the market at the beginning of the year, but so far the offers submitted have fallen well below its expectations in terms of price.

Hoist Finance, the Spanish subsidiary of a Swedish bank, and Cabot, a British fund dedicated to the purchase of non-performing loans (NPLs), have expressed the greatest interest in Gescobro, but their offers, amounting to around €200 million each, fall well short of Cerberus’s initial expectations of between €300 million and €350 million.

Sources in the market are questioning the value that Cerberus is assigning to Gescobro, given the current market prices and its operating profit (its EBITDA amounted to €11.3 million in 2018). Nevertheless, the US fund is defending its price thanks to the high number of problem loan portfolios that the company has acquired in recent years, whose gross value amounts to more than €8.6 billion.

Specifically, Gescobro is currently managing 12 unsecured loan portfolios with a combined nominal value of €8.3 million and 2 secured loan portfolios with a nominal value of €300 million. The prices of such portfolios typically reach less than 5% and around 30%, respectively. The debt recovery firm also employs 410 workers and has agreements to manage €3.5 billion in NPLs for the main Spanish banks.

Original story: La Información (by Pepe Bravo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Apollo Submits an Offer for El Corte Inglés’s Entire Real Estate Portfolio

23 May 2019 – Eje Prime

According to financial sources, in April, the fund Apollo Global Management submitted a bid for the whole real estate portfolio that El Corte Inglés has had on the market since the beginning of the year. However, the offer did not convince the management team of the department stores.

Since then, the ECI group has opened up the possibility of allowing interested parties to bid for part of the portfolio so as to maximise the value of the properties. However, the risk with that option is that some properties will end up being left unsold.

With the deadline for bids closing today, nothing is being ruled out. In fact, Apollo could still win if it was willing to increase its offer.

The portfolio contains 95 assets and includes shopping centres, offices and other types of assets such as parking lots, land and homes.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

GreenOak Puts Las Mercedes Business Park on the Market 3 Years After Buying it

16 April 2019 – El Confidencial

GreenOak has engaged the real estate consultancy firm CBRE to coordinate the sale of Las Mercedes Business Park, one of the main office complexes in Madrid.

The aim of the fund, led in Spain by Javier Zarrabeitia, is to receive offers for the asset between May and June, with a view to closing the sale before the summer. The US fund has set an asking price of more than €200 million, which would represent a capital gain of 40% in just 3 years after it purchased the property for €140 million in 2016 from Standard Life.

Since acquiring the asset, GreenOak has worked on repositioning it, increasing its occupancy rate from 65% to 90% and negotiating rent increases.

The complex comprises nine office buildings, spanning a surface area of 80,000 m2 and is located in the northeast of Madrid, alongside the A-2 motorway. It is home to the offices of companies such as Altran, Applus, the Spanish Medicines Agency, Enaire and Carrefour.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Marathon Puts the Bahía Azul Shopping Centre in Málaga up for Sale for c. €30M

11 April 2019 – Idealista

The US fund Marathon has put the Bahía Azul shopping centre in Málaga up for sale for an asking price of between €25 million and €30 million.

Marathon has owned the centre since 2016, when it acquired it for €18.5 million, and has appointed Savills-Aguirre Newman to manage the sale, which will begin after Easter.

Bahía Azul, which was inaugurated in November 2008, has a surface area of 13,827 m2, divided into four retail spaces, plus a 9,445 m2 underground parking lot. It is located opposite Guadalmar in the same complex as Ikea, and is home to high-profile brands including Worten, Conforama, Schmidt, Prenatal, McDonald’s, Visionlab, Carrión and Maisons du Monde.

Marathon Asset Management has headquarters in New York, London and Singapore. It is one of the minority shareholders of the property developer Vía Célere, which is controlled (75%) by Värde.

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Ibosa Sells the 85 Flats on Madrid’s Most Sought-After Plot in Record Time

18 March 2019 – El Economista

Last year, Ibosa was awarded one of the most sought-after plots of land in Madrid following a closely fought battle. This year, the property developer is in the news again as it has managed to sell all of the future homes that are going to be built on the site in less than two months.

The cooperative manager was awarded the plot, located on the corner of Calle Doctor Esquerdo and Calle de los Astros, just 800m from the Retiro Park, in November 2018 after submitting the highest bid (€33.5 million) and fighting off competition from 16 other players.

The competition for the homes themselves has been just as fierce with all 85 being sold in just 50 days. That achievement is all the more impressive when you consider that the homes have an average price of €5,000/m2, including parking space and storeroom.

The development, known as Residencial Becrux, is going to comprise 85 homes with between one and four bedrooms, with constructed surface areas of between 52 m2 and 245 m2. The total budgeted investment amounts to €55 million and the homes are expected to be handed over during the first quarter of 2022.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Avintia Invests €50M to Build 38 Luxury Homes in Baqueira

17 March 2019 – El Confidencial

Baqueira Beret is Spain’s most exclusive ski resort but no new urbanisations have been built there for more than 30 years because there is hardly any land left.

Nevertheless, a few months ago, the Avintia Group purchased the last major block of buildable land, spanning 60,000 m2, where it is planning to build the town’s most luxurious development yet: 38 homes with starting prices of €2 million at the foot of the mountain. Half of the properties have already been reserved and the group expects to invest more than €50 million in the project, known as Pleta Arriu.

All of the homes, which will measure between 350 m2 and 470 m2, will have direct access to the slopes and no expense will be spared in terms of luxury. Each property will be equipped with a swimming pool, spa, sauna, cinema room, ski room and elevator, given that the homes will have five storeys. The design will be contemporaneous and the homes will have huge windows for light with spectacular views of the Arán Valley.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus Puts Haya Real Estate up for Sale for c. €1.2bn

15 March 2019 – Eje Prime

Cerberus had been planning to list Haya Real Estate on the stock market but it suspended that operation in light of the political instability in the country, amongst other reasons. Instead, the US fund has decided to put the servicer up for sale.

The asking price is €1.2 billion and the advisor Rothschild has already made contact with possible interested parties. They include DoBank, which acquired Altamira in January for €412 million; the Swedish company Intrum, which purchased 80% of Solvia in December; and the fund manager Centricus.

Haya’s contract with Sareb is due to expire at the end of this year and the bad bank is understood to be considering not renewing the agreement as part of a wider strategic rethink.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Government Puts the Eurocis Complex in Central Madrid up for Sale for c. €196M

16 March 2019 – Crónica Global

The Spanish Government has authorised the sale by public auction of a set of offices, storerooms and garages in central Madrid, known as the Eurocis complex. The complex, which comprises 94 registered assets spanning an office surface area of 45,937 m2, plus 396 parking spaces, 1 commercial premise and seven underground storerooms, is located in the Salamanca district in the block bordered by Calles María de Molina, Núñez de Balboa, General Oraá and Castelló.

The asking price is €196 million and candidates have two months to submit their offers in closed envelopes. Until last year, the complex used to house several departments of the Ministry of Finance, but its urban planning classification means that it could be used for private purposes in the future. The future buyer is expected to completely renovate the building and convert it into modern offices or a large shopping centre.

Original story: Crónica Global 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake