Axia Real Estate Buys a €35 Mn Worth of Logistic Assets

14/10/2014 – Expansion

Last week, Axia Real Estate, one of the recently listed Spanish Reits (Socimis), purchased three real estate assets worth €35 million in total, an amount fully disembursed from its own funds.

The acquired portfolio is called LEG II LOGISTICA and it consists of three logistics warehouses. One of them stands at 2 Duero street inside the Madrid – Este Logistics Hub in Camarma de Esteruelas (Madrid’s Community), having a gross lettable area (GLA) of 70.298 square meters.

Next property is situated in the Sur – A1 Industrial Area in Guadalix de la Sierra (also Madrid), offering a 14.495 square meter GLA. The last warehouse is located at 5 Avenida del Poligono street in Valls (Tarragona’s area) and its GLA posts 26.026 square meters of space.

 

Original article: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

UBS Grabs a 5.22% Shareholding in Axia Real Estate

13/10/2014 – Expansion

UBS has increased to 5.22% its stake in Axia Real Estate, a share estimated to be currently worth of €18 million. The percentage corresponds to 1.88 million shares of the Socimi (a Reit firm in Spain).

Axia, a Socimi developed by Luis Lopez de Herrera Oria, has been picked by such big-name investors as Perry Partners International (a 29.162% stake), T. Rowe Price Associates (10%) and THS (11.109%).

Also, several banks bought a share in Axia Real Estate, namely Barclays Bank (4.214%), Citigroup (9.1%), Deutsche Bank (3.9%) and JP Morgan (5.8%).

At the end of September, Axia acquired a real estate asset portfolio, backed by Spanish properties located within the Community of Madrid, for €99.5 million. The purchase included office buildings, logistics hubs, a retail park and parking spaces.

By closing the transaction, Axia has spent around €170 million in two months, representing 47% of all the equity raised at its July flotation.

 

Original article: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

Lopez de Herrera Says There Is Enough Property For Axia And the Rest of Investors

1/09/2014 – Expansion

On July 9th, Spanish Reit (or Socimi) Axia Real Estate went public in the Continuous Stock Market at a price of 10 Euros a share. At its IPO, it sold 36 million shares raising €360 million in funds.

It was the sixth flotation of a Reit this year. The market is sufficient for everybody as over the past years the real estate activity has been almost null. In Spain, we have to boost a genuine Socimi industry which at the moment is still crawling. If you look at figures in other countries, you see vivid sectors – says Luis Lopez de Herrera Oria, CEO at Axia Real Estate.

Axia the Socimi has called attention of such big-name international investors as Perry Capital, Gruss Capital, Pelham Capital, Trowe Price and Taube Hodson Stonex. Before launching the vehicle, we managed to obtain 62% in committed funds from British and American investors mostly, Mr Lopez de Herrera says.

Apart from the €360 million IPO, the Socimis managers obtained a 50% financing.

Asset Portfolio

With the funds, Axia is going to invest in tertiary assets (non-residential) for rent. We think smooth market with dwellings for rent does not exist, the CEO assures. Thus, the Socimis portflio will be principally made of offices (around 70%), logistics (20%) and shopping malls (10%) situated preferably in Madrid and Barcelona. The portfolio will be ready within 18 months, he says.

Year-to-date, Axia purchased five logistics hubs and an office building in Madrid for €70 million in total.

The next step will be to add value to the portfolio. Axia is run by Mr. Herrera Oria, Luis Arredondo and other prominent experts from the Spanish market, like Guillermo Fernández-Cuesta, Fernando Arenas and Stuart McDonald.

The sector must focus on returning the repossessed poperty to the custody of professionals and the job will be tough, the CEO adds.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Freshly Listed Real Estate Firms Invest €1.55 Bn Within Five Months

26/08/2014 – El Economista, Expansion

They were born with view to giving an impulse to the property market in Spain and this is what they are doing. The four Socimis (Reit firms) listed earlier this year have invested €1.56 billion within the five months which have passed since their stock debuts.

Axia, Hispania, Lar and Merlin, as well as Promorent, Mercal and Entrecampos Cuatro listed on the Alternative Stock Market, offer many tax incentives, such as exemption to the Corporate Tax. This makes them very attractive to foreign investors who want to take advantage from the promise of rapid recovery of the Spanish market with prices and returns hitting the bottom.

The summer months were marked by many large transactions which involved the investment vehicles.

Lar España Real Estate Socimi was the first to go public on March 5th, rasing €400 million in funds at its initial public offering (IPO). Only 18 days later, the firm announced a purchase of two shopping malls in Irun and Palencia for the total of €39.4 million.

Aiming at Shopping Parks

The next acquisition carried out by Lar España took place at the end of July, when the company informed about six operations that together with the first amounted to €212.8 million. In total, the Socimi owns five shopping centers, two office buildings and two industrial warehouses.

On March 13th, another Reit arrived at the stock exchange market. Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios gained trust of such big-name investors as George Soros and John Paulson. It raised a €500 million IPO, out of which quote it has so far spent €230 million on eight office buildings, three hotels and several residential assets.

The Investment Leader

Although with merely three transactions, Merlin Properties wins with the amount disembursed in real estate purchases sealed during its lifespan. On floating on June 30th, the Socimi earned €1.25 billion in committed funds and until now it has invested 83.68% of the amount.

Specifically, Merlin spent €1.05 billion in total on a shopping mall and an office unit, as well as on buying Bosque and Tree Inversiones which included five buildings let to BBVA and 880 banking branches.

Finally, Axia Real Estate became listed on July 9th. The Socimi managed to raise €360 million at its IPO and it chose to focus on the logistics sector. It purchased five logistics warehouses and an office building for the total of €69.3 million.

Legal Amendments

The Socimi scheme has been approved in 2009 and modified in December 2012. But only this year the tax incentives could be fully enjoyed. Spanish Reits have to give out 80% of the gains proceeding from rents and 50% of those originating from asset sales, as well as 100% of earnings from other Socimis.

Although the vehicles boost investment and bring better dinamics to the real estate market in Spain, they have to compete with other companies which are potentially noteworthy in other markets, says Patricio Palomar, Research Director at CBRE.

 

Original article: El Economista (by Alba Brualla), Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

The Listed Real Estate Investment Companies Shake Up The Property Market With €1.500 Million of Purchases

06/08/2014 – El Economista

The influx of the real estate investment companies onto the Spanish stock markets so far this year has caused a flurry of transactions in the real estate sector, particularly intense in recent weeks, with purchases amounting to 1,533.2 million and which inject life into a market which is beginning to show signs of a change.

The listed real estate investment companies (known as “socimis”) have become a very tax-appealing vehicle for taking advantage of the opportunities which the Spanish real estate sector offers, in which prices have experienced a significant decline since the “boom” years, considerably more so than that experienced in neighbouring countries.

This situation is benefitting from a context marked by the market’s high liquidity, fundamentally thanks to foreign investment funds.

The first to debut on the stock market was Lar España Real Estate Socimi, which did so on 5 March with an initial share capital of 400 million.

The real estate investment entity of the Lar Group has announced acquisitions of 171.7 million, mostly shopping centres.

It has purchased the Las Huertas shopping centres in Palencia and Txingudi shopping centre in Irún from Corio for 39.4 million; Albacenter’s shopping centre from Unibail Rodamco for 28.4 million; the Anec Blau shopping centre in Castelldefells (Barcelona) for 80 million and another commercial building in Villaverde occupied by Media Markt for 9 million.

Furthermore, it has acquired an office building in Madrid’s Arturo Soria street for 24.2 million and another 14 floors situated inside the M-30 building for 19 million.

The next company in the sector to make the leap onto the stock market was Hispania, the listed company controlled by fund management group Azora and which is also part-owned by the multi-millionaire George Soros, who subsequently created his own Socimi with which he has made several purchases.

Hispania has taken 90% of the share capital of Oncisa, the real estate company of Once, for 80.2 million; it has purchased 213 homes in Barcelona’s Diagonal Mar park and 237 parking spaces from Banif for 63.8 million; 18,500 m2 of offices in Barcelona’s Glòries shopping centre for 40 million; 4 office blocks and 2 NH hotels in Madrid for 42 million and 199 homes in Majadahonda and the district of San Sebastián de los Reyes for 30 million.

IT has also acquired an office building in the district of Chamartín for 15 million and Marbella’s Guadalmina Hotel for 21.5 million. In total, Hispania has accumulated 292.5 million in purchases.

The socimi Merlin Properties, for its part, on 30 June made the largest listing on the stock market since 2011 with a valuation of 1,250 million.

Since its debut, it has accounted for purchases of almost 1,000 million: the purchase of Bosque y Tree Inversiones (which comprised 880 bank branches and 5 buildings leased to BBVA) for 739.5 million and the Marineda City shopping centre in La Coruña, partly owned by Manuel Jove, for 260 million.

Also making a listing on the stock exchange was Axia, with a valuation of 360 million and which has already purchased 6 properties for 70 million, and Mercal.

The Portuguese management company Norfin, Urbas y Quabit have also shown their intention to go public by launching a socimi.

Original article: El Economista (by Cora Serrano)
Translation: Aura REE

Axia Real Estate Falls Down 2% to €9.80 on Its Launch

10/07/2014 – El Confidencial

Axia Real Estate floated yesterday as the fifth Socimi (Spanish REIT) listed this year, after the debuts of Lar España, Hispania, Merlin Properties and Mercal Inmuebles, although the last trades on the MAB (Spain´s Alternative Stock Exchange).

The shares have not started to sell smoothly as they lost 2% of value, from the initial 10 Euros down to 9.80 Euros a share. The Socimi promoted by Luis López de Herrera-Oria raised €360 million at the IPO among investors.

The company assured the demand for the shares was huge, therefore it issued 36 million new ones.

Axia is held by international funds such as Perry European Investments, Gruss Capital Management, Pelham Capital, Trowe Price and Taube Hodson Stonex, among others.

The Socimi declares to be the first to invest “exclusively” in the tertiary assets for rent (offices, logisitcs centers and commercial real estate). It will especially aim offices in the financial hearts of Madrid and Barcelona (to represent 70% of its portfolio), whereas the two other property types would make 20% and 10%  respectively.

Axia Real Estate begins with a “blind pool”, but it foresees investing the entirety of the IPO amount within the next 12-18 months.

 

Original article: El Confidencial

Translation: AURA REE

Five Funds Invest Jointly €247 Mn in Axia

27/06/2014 – Expansion

Real Estate Investment Trust (or Socimi by its acronym in Spanish) Axia Real Estate will eventually debut on the continuous stock market on July 9th.

The new vehicle driven by ex-executive of Testa and Alza Real Estate, Luis López de Herrera-Oria, will start trading with a €400 million raised at its initial public offering of 40 million shares sold at 10 Euros each.

Axia has already got commitments for €247 million subscribed by huge institutional investors. Precisely, US hedge fund Perry Capital will take the seat at the managing board with 25% of the stake.

Tabue Hodson Stonex (THS), T Rowe Price, Gruss Capital Management and Pelham Capital will act as anchor investors grabbing 62% of the whole subscribtion. JB Capital Markets and Citigroup are the underwriting banks, whereas Gómez Acebo & Pombo, White & Case and Linklaters perform the functions of the legal advisors.

Axia, born without assets in possession, is going to focus its activity on offices (to make 70% of the entire portfolio), logistics (20%) and commercial real estate (10%) situated principally in Madrid and Barcelona.

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE