Tag: Bami

Juan Pepa Leaves Lone Star For Pastures New

7 November 2017 – El Confidencial

Juan Pepa was the first person to seriously back the Spanish property development market and, having reaped the rewards, the Argentinian director has decided that now is time for a change of scenery. Mr Pepa (pictured below left), leader of Lone Star in Spain, will hand over control of the US fund next month, to undertake new projects in the country from January onwards, according to sources familiar with his decision. The man himself declined to comment on the news.

With Mr Pepa’s departure, a cycle closes in the real estate market. Having starred in many of the large property-related operations in the Spanish market in recent years, the jewel in his crown was the creation of the property developer Neinor. It was the first firm of its kind to debut on the stock market in almost a decade, and it has seen its share price appreciate by 9% since it first listed in March.

Lone Star created that housing giant after acquiring Kutxabank’s real estate business, in December 2014, for €930 million, an operation that represented the largest sale of a real estate company in Spain since 2007. A year later, the company debuted on the stock market with a capitalisation of €1,300 million.

Mr Pepa’s commitment to the Iberian peninsula has allowed Lone Star to become one of the major players in the economic recovery, a prize that came after it had dared to buy assets at the height of the crisis when most other funds were withdrawing.

Project Octopus

It was in this context that Mr Pepa managed to secure another one of his key milestones, the purchase of Eurohypo’s Spanish real estate together with JP Morgan. Baptised as Project Octopus, this portfolio comprised more than €4,000 million real estate loans in Spain and Portugal.

One of the assets that the firm ended up controlling as a result of this purchase was the Adequa office complex, which was owned by Bami until Lone Star executed the debt that it held and opened a process to sell the property. The buyer was another one of the main players that has turned the sector around, Merlin, with an offer of €380 million.

In Portugal, Lone Star has just completed the purchase of 75% of Novo Banco, another one of the legacies that Mr Pepa will leave behind. Many investors expect to soon see a recovery in Portugal similar to the one already being enjoyed in Spain.

In fact, in addition to the assets from Octopus, in recent years, the fund has taken other positions in the neighbouring country, such as a 2,000-hectare plot of land that it acquired from Catalunya Banca in the Algarve for €200 million.

Despite all of these achievements, Juan Pepa leaves Lone Star with the bitter taste after he was unable to win his last big battle: the €30,000-million portfolio of toxic assets from Banco Popular that Santander sold in the summer. His fund had featured amongst the favourites but the portfolio ended up being awarded to another investment giant: Blackstone.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sevilla’s Chamber Of Commerce Sells 2 Plots Of Land To Rivero Family

30 November 2016 – Real Estate Press

The Chamber of Commerce in Sevilla has recently completed the sale of a portion of land at the Antares Club, where a hotel is going to be constructed, as well as a plot of land next to Eusa, where a hall of residence for university students is going to be built. The buyer of both assets is the Rivero family.

Initially, the Chamber of Commerce’s conversations began with Joaquín Rivero Valcarce, the Jerez-born businessman who used to chair Bami and who led the merger with Metrovacesa and Gecina. Following the death of the businessman in September, his only daughter, Helena Rivera, decided to push ahead with the operation and subsequently completed the negotiations that her father had begun.

The total price for the acquisition of both plots of land amounts to around €7.5 million. The largest investment relates to the Antares hotel. The plot covers a surface area measuring 1,700 m2, allocated for tertiary use, which includes the current exhibition hall, the Spica hall, the unique sloping auditorium, as well as a section for squash courts and a space that is currently used as a car park. The amount of this acquisition is estimated to have reached €4.5 million. This plot of land has a buildable surface area of 6,000 m2, where a hotel containing around 100 rooms may be built.

In the case of Eusa, the plan is to construct a hall of residence for students, given that, as well as being located next to the Chamber of Commerce’s own training centre, the site will also be close to the Law and Business faculties and with good transport connections to the University of Pablo de Olavide. The company managed by Helena Rivero has invested €3 million on this plot of land, which may be used for educational purposes and whose buildable surface area amounts to 9,000 m2.

The Chamber of Commerce has declined to make any comments on the details of the operation, given that the negotiations are subject to confidentiality clauses. Nevertheless, the sources consulted say that the sale has gone ahead and has received the necessary approvals from the Chamber of Commerce and the Junta de Andalucía.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bami Newco Files For Voluntary Liquidation

30 January 2015 – Inmodiario

Bami Newco, the real estate company controlled by Joaquín Rivero, which filed for bankruptcy in mid-2013, has now filed for liquidation, according to a ruling issued by the Commercial Court number 2 in Madrid. The company, which has debts of €652 million, proposed its liquidation under the Bankruptcy Law, after it was unable to reach a refinancing agreement with its lender banks.

Bami holds assets amounting to €726 million to meet its liabilities, according to a report published by the insolvency administrator in mid-2014.

The company was founded in 2007 after exiting Metrovacesa’s share capital, a real estate company in which Bami become the controlling shareholder following the takeover it launched in 2004.

The new real estate company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after, at the end of 2012, Rivero and the Soler family also declared bankrupt the companies through which they channelled the stakes (16.6% and 15.6%, respectively) they then held in the French real estate company Gecina. In 2013, they sold the debt linked to those investments, which were guaranteed by Gecina’s own shares, to the funds Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge.

The company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after failing to reach a long-term refinancing agreement with its bank syndicate that would have given it the financial stability necessary to continue its activity.

The company has a portfolio of office buildings located in the North of Madrid, totalling 127,500 square metres, with an average occupancy rate of 90%, backed by long-term contracts with highly solvent clients, including several Ibex 35 companies. Moreover, the company had plans to construct two buildings in the “Adequa” business park, which would have resulted in an additional 27,000 sqm.

Bami closed 2012 with a loss of €15 million, as a result of the cancelation of its derivative hedges and the impairment loss it recorded on buildings that had not yet become operational.

Despite having paid the interest on its debt on a timely basis since its constitution, and although most of its debts were due to mature this year, the real estate company decided that filing for bankruptcy was essential, since without long-term, stable financing, the business will be unable to develop its property portfolio and carry out its projects.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bami Files For Liquidation

22 January 2015 – Expansión

Bami, the real estate company controlled by Joaquin Rivero, which filed for bankruptcy in 2013, has gone into liquidation, under an order issued by Commercial Court No. 2 of Madrid, after it was unable to reach an agreement with its lender banks to refinance its debt.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake