Tag: authorisation

Blackstone Formalises Revised Takeover Bid for Hispania

27 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The deal involving Blackstone’s purchase of Hispania has entered the home stretch. This lunchtime, the US fund has asked Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) to authorise a modification to the offer presented in its takeover bid for the Socimi, to €18.25 per share, a figure that both parties agreed to last week, according to a statement issued by the stock market regulator in a relevant fact.

The increase in the bid by Blackstone came hand in hand with a commitment from Hispania to accept the new offer, which values the Socimi at more than €1.992 billion. In April, the fund made its first offer of €17.45 per share, following its purchase of 16.5% of the company.

The initial bid fell below the expectations of the real estate company, which specialises in the hotel sector, but it now recommends the acceptance of the operation’s new conditions, which it describes as “attractive”.

All of the directors of the Socimi have reached an agreement to accept this new offer for 100% of its shares, equivalent to 48,108 shares, which account for 0.044% of Hispania’s share capital.

Azora (with 1.1 million shares and 1.070% of the capital) has “irrevocably” committed to accepting the new offer from Blackstone, as has Canepa (as the management company of Row Fund, which controls Tarmelane) on behalf of Tarmelane.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

HardRock to Invest €2bn in Future Leisure Mega-Complex in Tarragona

25 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Hard Rock has been given the green light to build its gaming and leisure mega-complex in Tarragona. The Generalitat de Cataluña has unblocked the plans of the US group, which is going to invest €2 billion in this complex. The economic plan includes one line item amounting to €300 million for the purchase of land, located in Vila-seca, from CaixaBank.

The Ministry of Economy reported on Friday that it had awarded the US company the authorisation to install and operate a gaming casino, which will be located at the centre of the project and which is going to be called Hard Rock Entertainment World.

The next step that the group must take is to make a €10 million deposit within the next ten days, although that amount includes the €3 million that the company already paid in June last year to guarantee its involvement in the project.

Despite those assurances, Hard Rock has not had a rival in the public tender that was opened to develop the complex. The first multi-national leisure project in Spain will have a gaming area spanning 7,595 m2, as well as two large hotels with a surface area of 63,000 m2.

Similarly, the US company will promote a commercial space measuring 15,000 m2 in which 6,000 m2 will be dedicated to an extensive restaurant offering and the same amount of space will be used for the centre itself, where leisure and live entertainment spaces will also be opened.

€700 million to begin with

During the first phase of the project, Hard Rock is going to invest €700 million to purchase the land, cover the construction and financing costs and to acquire furniture, amongst other aspects.

The group expects that its multi-million euro investment to set up this mega-complex, will allow it to reach an economic impact in the tourist area of Tarragona, where it is located, on the Costa Dorada, of €1.3 billion. The Port Aventura World leisure resort is located in the vicinity of the future Hard Rock Entertainment World.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Formalises its “Hostile” Takeover Bid for Hispania

23 April 2018 – Valencia Plaza

Blackstone has submitted to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) its request for authorisation for the takeover bid that it has launched over the Socimi Hispania, an operation worth €1.905 billion, which would see the US fund become the largest hotel owner in the country. The supervisor must now analyse whether the bid is admissible and, in the event that it deems that it is, assess the documentation for its approval. Only then will the period be opened for acceptance of the deal by the shareholders.

In this way, Blackstone has formalised its takeover bid for the hotel Socimi that it announced on 5 April, after it purchased 16.5% of the share capital from the investor George Soros and whereby became the company’s largest shareholder. The bid is effectively directed at the 83.5% of Hispania’s share capital that the fund does not yet control, by offering €17.45 per share, which brings the operation value to around €1.59 billion.

In the documentation submitted to the supervisor on Monday, Blackstone did not include any bank guarantee to secure that amount, although it did state that it would present such a guarantee within a period of seven working days that it has for that purpose. The consideration being offered by the fund represents a discount of 5.6% with respect to the share price of €18.50 at which Hispania was trading before the operation was announced publicly.

Blackstone is formalising the takeover bid after Hispania announced that it regarded the approach as hostile and that it will look for “alternatives” to the operation that improve the price proposed and, therefore, “maximise” value. The Socimi chaired by Rafael Miranda is pushing ahead with its intention to look for other options to the bid, given that prior to its formulation, and before it announced its intention to liquidate its assets by 2020, the firm had received expressions of interest from around half a dozen overseas investors.

For its part, Blackstone is looking to create a hotel asset ‘giant’, given that this deal would see it become the largest owner of this type of establishment in the country. The fund would add the 46 hotels that comprise the Socimi’s portfolio, most of which are located on the islands and in the main tourist areas of the country, to the fourteen establishments that it purchased last year from one of Banco Sabadell’s companies (HI Partners). Currently, and following the departure of Soros, Hispania’s main reference shareholders are overseas funds, including Fidelity, which owns a 7% stake, Conepa with 6%, and Bank of Montreal and BlackRock, with 3% each.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Sells Its Hotel Management Company To Blackstone

17 October 2017 – Expansión

Sabadell has sold 100% of the share capital in HI Partners, its hotel management platform, to Halley Holdco, an entity controlled by funds advised by subsidiaries of Blackstone. The transaction price amounted to €630.73 million, according to a statement filed by the bank with the CNMV. Nevertheless, the definitive valuation will be subject to “possible non-material adjustments” and “is conditional upon obtaining the necessary authorisation from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV)”.

Sabadell will recognise a net gain of €55 million in its results for this year as a consequence of the sale. Moreover, it will improve its maximum quality capital ratio (CET 1 without full implementation of Basel III) by 22 basis points. In June, its capital ratio amounted to 12.67%, in accordance with the calendar for the gradual adaptation of the rule, and to 12.1% assuming the full application of Basel III (fully loaded).

HI Partners is one of the largest managers of hotel assets, including debt, in Spain, with 29 properties in its portfolio and 4,793 rooms in total. Its establishments include the Hotel Ritz-Carlton Abama, in Guía de Isora (Tenerife); the Hotel Abora Catarina, located in Maspalomas (Gran Canaria); and the Hotel ME Sitges Terramar (Sitges), the Hotel Hilton Sa Torre, in Llucmajor (Mallorca); and the Abba Acteon, in Valencia.

Before the summer, Sabadell engaged the investment banks Citi, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse to sound out the market regarding the possible placement on the stock exchange of its hotel management subsidiary.

In addition to Sabadell’s majority stake, HI Partners’ other shareholders include the company’s management team, comprising Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, Sergio Carrascosa and Santiago Fisas. Its most recent operations involve several agreements with the Canary Islands-based hotel group Lopesan, from which it purchased the hotels ‘Ifa Dunamar’, ‘Ifa Continental’ and ‘Ifa Beach’.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ministry Of Defence Puts Former ‘Hospital Del Aire’ Land Up For Auction

4 October 2017 – Eje Prime

The plot of land (…) is located in the Arturo Soria neighbourhood of Madrid, one of the most expensive areas of the capital (…). 

The Ministry of Defence is looking to shed weight. The government department has received authorisation from the Council of Ministers to put up for auction the land on which the former Hospital del Aire used to be located. The block is in disuse and has been vacant since 2011 when the old hospital building was demolished.

The asking price for the ownership of the land has been set at €25.1 million, for a plot spanning 28,341 m2. The former hospital has been included in the Ministry of Defence’s portfolio of buildings since 1945, when the former Ministry of Air acquired it, through a normal purchase and sale transaction.

In 2010, the Ministry of Defence managed to reach a pre-agreement with the Fundación Universidad Empresa to sell the building, but just six months later, the protocol that had been signed in that regard expired.

The express authorisation of the Council of Ministers to launch the auction was mandatory in this case, given that the sales value of the site exceeds €20 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Fortress Unwinds Its Final Positions In Spain

7 September 2017 – Voz Pópuli

Fortress has definitively closed a chapter in its history in Spain. The US vulture fund, regarded as one of the most aggressive in the world, has launched two operations in the market through which it is looking to offload its final positions in the Spanish financial sector.

The two deals in question are Project San Siro and Project Baresi. In total, they comprise paid and unpaid loans worth around €300 million, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. The candidates to buy these loan packages include other opportunistic funds.

The two projects essentially comprise the final dregs of the portfolio that Fortress holds in the Spanish banking sector: loans from Santander, Barclays España (now part of CaixaBank) and Lico Leasing, the former finance company of the savings banks that Fortress purchased at the height of the crisis.

The US fund, led in Spain by the banker José María Cava, was one of the first to enter the financial sector at a time when the lack of trust at the international level was at its peak. It was between 2010 and 2011, when the first interventions of the savings banks began and several cold mergers were carried out, which gave rise to groups such as Bankia.

Critical time

Fortress completed its acquisition of a portfolio from Santander in 2012, just before the rescue of the finance sector. In that deal, Fortress purchased €1,000 million in consumer credits from the group chaired by Ana Botín.

A year later, the US fund announced the purchase of Lico Leasing. That was Fortress’ last major operation in Spain, which broke down just two years later. The fund took a long time to obtain authorisation from the Bank of Spain to approve that acquisition, and so by the time it did receive it, the credit tap had been reopened and so Lico arrived late to the recoveries sector.

For that reason, Fortress decided to close this business and its other financial commitments in Spain. First, it sold one of its recoveries platforms (Paratus) to Elliott and Cabot. Next, it sold Geslico to Axactor. And in terms of the other portfolios (Lico, Santander, and Barclays), it let some of them mature and the remainder is what is now being put up for sale.

It also leaves behind other possible opportunities that the fund considered, such as its failed entry into the share capital of Sareb and of other savings banks, with which it was unable to reach an agreement due to the significant price differences. Fortress is now more focused on other business niches in Spain and most notably in the Italian market, where it purchased, together with Pimco, the largest portfolio of loans, worth €17,000 million, from Unicredit last year. Given its profile, the Spanish banking sector will become the focus of Fortress once again when the next crisis hits.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s CNMV Authorises Slim’s Takeover Of Realia

24 June 2015 – Expansión

The offer presented by the Mexican businessman was competing against a bid submitted at the end of 2014 by Hispania, the Socimi in which George Soros holds a stake.

According to reports yesterday from the market supervisor, Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has approved the public offer for the acquisition of shares (takeover or OPA) that Carlos Slim (pictured above) presented for 100% of Realia, valued at €178 million.

The body led by Elvira Rodríguez believes that the terms of the offer conform with ruling legislation and deems that the contents of the brochure explaining the operation are sufficient (following the latest submission of information by Slim on 16 June).

Slim offered €0.58 per share, compared with €0.49 per share offered by Hispania. Nevertheless, both prices fall below the current market value of the real estate company, which closed trading on Tuesday at €0.685 per share.

Carlos Slim has already taken control of Realia, since he recently bought the 24.9% stake that Bankia held; it used to be the second largest shareholder of the real estate company. The primary shareholder is FCC, and the Mexican businessman is, in turn, the primary shareholder of FCC.

Original story: Expansión (by E.P.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The PP Stops ‘Operación Chamartín’ Dead In Its Tracks

14 May 2015 – El Confidencial

Ana Botella has met with opposition from several members of her own party regarding the progress of the largest urban development in Spain, which was due to involve an investment of almost €6,000 million.

“I would like to settle the future of Operación Chamartín…it would be a real shame if the project does not go ahead”. Those were the statements made by Ana Botella in an interview with El País on Sunday, in which the now almost former Mayoress (of Madrid) summed up her legislature. With this assertion, she responded to a question about what was left for her to do and what she would like to finish before leaving. However, despite recent attempts by BBVA, the main shareholder, to push ahead with the largest real estate development in Madrid, the project that has been renamed Castellana Norte does not seem to be able to get off the ground.

According to sources at the capital’s Town Hall and shareholders of Dutch (the property development company), an extraordinary council meeting will not be held on Thursday to approve what was going to be the largest urban development in Spain. That is because 14 May is the last logical day from a political point of view for the authorisation of the new partial urban plan that would have to include the extension of the Paseo de la Castellana, promoted by BBVA and Construcciones San José.

Botella, has tried to the end to convince other members of the PP to approve a project that has been blocked since 1993 and which, was going involve an investment of €5,974 million. Of that amount, €3,300 million was going to flow to the coffers of the three Public Administrations involved in the project – the Town Hall of Madrid, the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Development – and so the interest of all of these parties was evident.

Those figures were announced at the launch of the operation, an act that was blessed with the presence of the Chairman of BBVA, Francisco González, the Minister for Development, Ana Pastor, the Mayoress, Ana Botella and the President of the Community (of Madrid), Ignacio González. From that photo, two of the politicians are no longer in their roles and the owner of the infrastructure is waiting to see what happens in the general election. “There is no other project like this anywhere in the world”, said the Chief Executive of BBVA, the primary shareholder with 75% of the developer’s share capital, who added that “I don’t know if it will be profitable for the bank, but it will be for Madrid”.

The Director of Real Estate at BBVA, Antonio Béjar, has been putting pressure on Botella until the last minute to obtain authorisation for the project despite the opposition from various members of the PP and the reluctance shown by the Minister for Development. (…).

From the ranks of the municipal Government, they say that the 2,000 complaints made by various groups less than two weeks before the municipal and autonomous community elections make the approval of Operación Chamartín impossible. The authorisation would have been used by the opposition parties to link the PP to the financial system and the so-called “casta”, especially if we take into account that some voices link the arrival of Francisco González as the President of BBVA with that of José María Azar to the Government.

Sources at Dutch are confident that Castellana Norte will receive support from the new local government that emerges from the municipal elections on 24 May. Above all, because they consider that it will represent a significant economic boost for the capital, something which, in theory, no one should oppose. That has been recognised half-heartedly by the various opposition parties, such as the PSOE and Ciudadanos. But at the same time, they recognise that the (likely) diversity of the next local government will make any agreement more difficult, especially if we also take into account that there will be general elections in November and that the project also needs to be approved by the Ministry for Development.

The Castellana Norte District project involves extending the capital’s main thoroughfare by 3.7 kilometres and creating a new area where 17,000 new homes would be build, thanks to the burial (move underground) of the train tracks at Chamartín Station. The macro-project includes a green area measuring 24 hectares, two business areas with the construction of several skyscrapers of up to 320 metres tall and a new stop on the local train network.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation: Carmel Drake