Tag: bids

Prologis, Blackstone & Deutsche Bank Bid For Colonial’s Logistics Portfolio

20 June 2019 – Cinco Días

Inmobiliaria Colonial has chosen the three finalists who have submitted the highest bids for its logistics portfolio and they are: Prologis, the largest owner of warehouses in Europe; Blackstone, the US fund; and Deutsche Bank, through its manager DWS, according to market sources.

Colonial inherited a sizeable logistics portfolio from Axiare following its takeover of that firm last year, but since the Socimi focuses on offices in prime areas of Madrid, Barcelona and Paris, it put the logistics portfolio up for sale a few weeks ago.

The company has received around a dozen offers, from which it has selected three that exceed €400 million. It is planning to close the operation before the summer.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

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

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

The Sale of FC Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium Stalls Due to Divergent Price Expectations

6 March 2019 – Las Provincias

FC Valencia was hoping to close the sale of its Mestalla stadium by March of this year with the help of Deloitte, but a deal now seems a long way off after the comprehensive selection process undertaken by the audit firm failed to identify any bids that meet with the price expectations of the Mediterranean Club.

FC Valencia was hoping to obtain around €120 million for the plot, funds that it planned to use immediately to resume the construction of its new stadium, whose development has been suspended since February 2009 due to a lack of money. Three final round candidates were selected by Deloitte but none of their offers reached €100 million, let alone €120 million. In fact, all three bids fell well below, ranging between €70 million and €85 million.

Bankia is watching this process closely given that the football club still holds debt with the financial institution (mortgaged on the land). Time is running out for the football club. According to the timetable agreed with the Town Hall, the stadium on Cortes Valencianas must be finished by May 2021 and the former Mestalla demolished by 2023.

Original story: Las Provincias (by H.E. & C. V.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

A 17,000 m2 Residential Plot Goes Up For Sale in Central Santander

12 February 2019 – Eje Prime

An operation is on the horizon in the heart of Santander. A plot of land spanning 17,000 m2, with planning permission to build homes up to three storeys high, has gone up for auction with a starting price of €1.3 million. The land is owned by a local family, which inherited several plots.

The objective of the sale is to divide the “proindiviso”, given that the land is currently owned by six members of the family and a third party. Nevertheless, an agreement between the owners allows the abbreviated procedure to apply to the auction, in other words, there is no need to set up a compensation board.

The plot, spanning 16,921 m2 and with a buildable surface area of 4,700 m2, is located in the urban centre of Santander, in a growth area next to the El Alisal shopping centre. The urbanisation has almost been finished and there are facilities and transport connections in the vicinity.

Following its publication on the auction website of the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (BOE), interested parties have a period of twenty days to submit offers, after which a period will open for the owners to present the option to improve the bid to third parties.

The land has planning permission to build three-storey blocks with garages and storerooms, as well as a communal area with a garden and swimming pool. The land is valued at €2.15 million, according to an independent expert. That is the de facto starting price, although a discount of 60% has been established thereon. Hence, the minimum price of €1.29 million.

The same family owns another plot very nearby, spanning 9,157 m2, with a buildable surface area of 3,394 m2, which is not adjacent but which is located in the same urbanisation, according to explanations provided by sources speaking to Eje Prime.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I.P.G.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Puts its Property Developer Subsidiary Up For Sale with Assets worth €1.2bn

5 February 2019 – La Vanguardia

Banco Sabadell announced on Tuesday that it is putting its subsidiary Solvia Desarollos Inmobiliarios up for sale. The property developer owns assets worth around €1.2 billion. The assets are mostly plots of residential land, located in prime areas of Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities, as well as 130 work-in-progress real estate developments.

Less than a week ago, the President of Banco Sabadell, Josep Oliu, announced at the presentation of last year’s results that “we are going to continue with our asset divestment policy”. On this occasion, Sabadell has chosen the investment bank Rothschild, according to the relevant fact sent to the CNMV, to circulate the sales prospectus amongst possible buyers. According to market sources, large funds such as Blackstone, Cerberus, Värde and Oaktree, amongst others, may be interested in buying the company.

The entity, led by Francisco Pérez, has around 40 employees, who will also exit Sabadell’s orbit. The sales process may last six months. Firstly, the candidates will have to submit offers and then a competitive process will be carried out.

This sale is running in parallel to the sale of 80% of the real estate manager Solvia. In theory, an agreement has been reached to sell that firm to Lindorff Holding Spain, which belongs to the Swedish fund Intrum, for €300 million. That price may increase by an additional €40 million if certain conditions established in the sales agreement are fulfilled.

Original story: La Vanguardia (by Conchi Lafraya)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pryconsa, Ibosa & Vía Célere Bid for Sought-After Plot in Madrid

7 November 2018 – El Confidencial

It is the most important land auction of the year in Madrid. Not because of its size or its characteristics, but because of its location: just 500 m from the most iconic park in Madrid, the Retiro, in the heart of the Spanish capital.

The star is the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (the National Currency and Stamp Factory), which is the owner of almost 4,500 m2 of buildable land, with a buildability of 9,000 m2, where almost one hundred homes may be built, and whose divestment has been entrusted to the services of the Ministry of Finance.

The minimum price that it expects to obtain for the land is €17 million, nevertheless, given its location, and in light of the huge shortage of buildable land in the centre of the Spanish capital, and therefore, of new build developments, the experts consulted by El Confidencial do not rule out that the final figure could reach twice that.

The plot, which has been in disuse for more than 30 years, has sparked enormous interest from buyers and has generated great excitement in the neighbourhood. According to information gathered by this newspaper, some of the interested parties that have participated in the auction – the deadline for the submission of bids ended on 6 November – include a cooperative managed by Grupo Ibosa, Pryconsa and Vía Célere – all of whom are typical players in this type of auction – although the same sources also talk of at least half a dozen offers. To be able to bid, the interested parties had to submit a bond amounting to €853,000 – equivalent to 5% of the asset value.

For the time being, Grupo Ibosa’s plans for the plot include the construction, on a cooperative basis, of 94 homes with between one and four bedrooms with a swimming pool, padel court, spa, and jacuzzi, as well as a multi-use sports pitch, gym, minibox or crossfit room and a Finnish sauna; all those facilities are lacking in the vast majority of developments in the neighbourhood.

In fact, the project that is constructed on this site will be the only new-build development in the area. Ibosa’s plans include prices of almost €5,500/m2 per home, above the prices that are currently being paid in the area in the second-hand market, which stand at around €4,500/m2. Thus, for example, a new-build home measuring 160 m2 would cost around €828,000.

Both Grupo Ibosa and Pryconsa have starred in some of the most high-profile operations in the capital over the last five years. The most recent, for example, was signed by Pryconsa. The property developer chaired by Marco Colomer, one of the survivors of the crisis with more than five decades of history under his belt, submitted the only bid – amounting to €19.7 million – for the former bus depots of the Municipal Transport Company (Empresa Municipal de Transportes or EMT) of Madrid in the Buenvista neighbourhood (Carabanchel). Moreover, just a year ago, Pryconsa and Realia Business were awarded two plots of land in Madrid by the Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, Vía Célere, just two years ago, was awarded a plot by the Ministry of Finance on Avenida Santo Ándel de la Guarda (…).

In this case, the bid envelopes will be opened within the next few days at the Madrid office of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Puts 2 million m2 of Popular’s Residential Land up for Sale

1 October 2018 – Cinco Días

Now that the banks have offloaded their real estate portfolios onto the opportunistic funds that acquired them, it is time for the next move. Those buyers are going to see at first hand whether property developers are interested in buying plots on which to homes can be built all over Spain. The first player to test the market is Blackstone, which has placed a macro-portfolio of land spanning 2 million m2 from Popular on the market; according to market sources, it has the capacity for the construction of more than 18,000 homes.

The operation is being carried out through Aliseda, a company controlled by Blackstone (51%) and Santander (49%). The value of the plots is almost €500 million, according to sources at Aliseda. That real estate firm already revealed, at the start of September, that a sales process was in the pipeline relating to so-called Project Origin (…).

This land proceeds from the toxic assets of Popular, after Santander sold 51% of the property-linked portfolio to Blackstone last year for €5.1 billion. In that portfolio, there were doubtful loans and foreclosed assets, including both homes and land linked to property developers. Of those assets, 42% corresponded to land and work in progress projects. In that operation, the servicer Aliseda was also transferred. That entity is now responsible for managing those assets, recovering doubtful loans and, when recovery is not possible, foreclosing the properties and putting them on the market, like in  the case of this macro-operation.

The details of the operation

The details of the operation reveal a gigantic portfolio. The land portfolio spans 2.05 million m2 for residential use, specifically for the construction of 18,299 homes, on plots located in 43 provinces, but excluding Madrid and Barcelona. In total, 270 assets have been put up for sale.

Blackstone and Santander, through their servicer Aliseda, are giving companies the option of bidding only for the plots that are of interest to them. The real estate firm has opened an online store in which it says around 1,000 interested investors are participating.

Local property developers are expected to be the players most interested in these plots. In fact, Blackstone has decided to put plots on the market in locations where demand has reactivated a bit later, whereby backing the recovery of the property sector across Spain. The fund has entrusted this transaction to the real estate consultancy CBRE.

The portfolio is divided into four categories, based on the type of land. Specifically, 158 assets (58% of the total) corresponding to 888,364 m2 of land, are finalist plots (which can be built on right away) with capacity for 8,691 homes. It has also put some work in progress projects up for sale, in other words, developments that were left unfinished. In that case, there are 39 assets, spanning 174,034 m2 and corresponding to 1,549 homes.

Aliseda is also marketing 33 assets for which the urbanisation process has been started, with capacity for 4,603 homes and another 42 assets without any licences for 4,772 homes.

In terms of the locations, Andalucía, Levante and Galicia account for the majority of the assets. The 10 provinces with the most homes in the portfolio are Murcia (14%), Málaga (12%), Castellón (7%), Valencia (5%), La Coruña (5%), Alicante (4%), Asturias (4%), Navarra (4%) and Zaragoza (3%).

Property developers interested in bidding for one or more of the plots will have until the end of October to do so and Aliseda expects to close the operations during December.

To put the gigantic size of the portfolio being marketed by Aliseda into context, it is worth comparing it with the land banks owned by some of the large listed property developers. Only Metrovacesa (in which Santander and BBVA hold stakes) owns more land. It currently owns plots for 38,000 homes, with a gross value of €2.686 billion, according to its most recent accounts. In the case of Aedas, it has a landbank for 14,521 homes and Neinor has land for another 13,500 units (…).

It remains to be seen whether the appetite of property developers for these locations outside of Madrid and Barcelona, the most active markets, is sufficient and whether they will be capable of swallowing up this supply. It is the first time that interest in the market for land proceeding from bank assets has been tested on such a large scale (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Launches Large Sale of Buildable Land After Acquiring Aliseda

6 September 2018 – El Confidencial

It was just a matter of time. Aliseda, the servicer of Banco Popular, now controlled by Blackstone (51%) and Santander (49%), is starting the school year by looking for buyers for 270 residential plots and work in progress developments, with a total buildability of more than 2 million m2, distributed throughout Spain.

It is the most important land sale currently underway in Spain and, unlike what is happening in other areas of the market, it will not involve a block sale of assets, but rather possible interested parties may acquire each plot individually, which will allow for the entry of local property developers into a market that has been dominated until now by large property developers and investment funds.

The assets are located in 43 Spanish provinces. They consist of 231 plots in total, mainly buildable plots or plots under development, and 39 projects in progress. Many of the sites are located in Galicia, Levante, Costa del Sol and the Canary Islands; the latter market has been especially active in recent months.

“Unlike other sales processes, the operation that Aliseda is now putting on the market allows investors the possibility of submitting an offer for any of the plots independently, which means that they can structure the perimeter that best suits their needs and investment criteria. In this way, both local property developers, as well as institutional investors will have the opportunity to participate under equal conditions”, says Adolfo Blázquez, Director of Land at Aliseda.

Local developers and national developers looking to grow in volume and build large developments may bid for the plots, as may institutional investors looking to buy large blocks of buildable land – a scarce and very sought-after asset, especially in the hottest markets of Madrid, Barcelona and the islands.

Meanwhile, Samuel Población, National Director of residential and land at CBRE, the exclusive consultancy firm selected to launch the sales process, says that “the shortage of buildable land in the Spanish market has become one of the great barriers for property developers. Thus, the activation of residential land sale processes, such as this operation by Aliseda, places prime raw material on the market, which will gradually start to satisfy the high demand that currently exists”.

The process began on 7 September, with access being granted to information about the assets, and will go on until December with the closure of selected bids.

In March, the US fund and Banco Santander created Proyecto Quasar Investments, the holding company that groups together the real estate portfolio of Banco Popular and the marketing platform Aliseda. Blackstone controls the majority of the capital in the new company and also takes care of its management, led by Eduard Mendiluce, the CEO of the company. Mendiluce is also the most senior executive of Anticipa, the other large real estate firm that the fund owns in Spain and the former head of Catalunya Caixa Inmobiliaria.

Original story: El Confidencial

Translation: Carmel Drake

A Swap from ING & CaixaBank: the Last Stumbling Block in the Sale of Santander’s HQ to AGC

27 July 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The sale of the company that owns Santander’s Ciudad Financiera is closer than ever to becoming a reality. The approval of the liquidation plan by a Madrilenian court set September as the deadline for offers. Nevertheless, there are still disputes to be resolved.

The main stumbling block now is a lawsuit in London against a swap (financial derivative) granted by five entities: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), CaixaBank, ING, HSH Nordbank and AG Bayerische Landesbank. The lawsuit, filed years ago, is based on a claim that RBS manipulated the interbank – LIBOR and Euribor – market. The lawsuit amounts to €800 million, given that the swap has cost around €90 million per year since 2008, according to financial sources consulted by this newspaper.

The discussion in Spain focuses on the fact that some of the creditors of Santander’s headquarters fear that the new owner of the company (Marme Inversiones 2007) will decide to shelve that lawsuit. It would require an agreement between the new Marme and the five banks party to the swap in exchange for renegotiating the derivative, which expires in 2023.

AGC’s offer

Those €800 million, if the process in London proves successful, could mean that all of the creditors recover their money. In particular, the original shareholder, the Brit Glen Maud, and the company Edgeworth Capital, owned by the Iranian investor Robert Tchenguiz, who took positions during the bankruptcy.

Other sources consulted indicate that there is a commitment from the main interested party in the Ciudad Financiera, the Arab fund AGC Equity Partners, to keep the Marme litigation case open.

Currently, the only offer on the table is the one presented by AGC in 2016 for between €2.5 billion and €2.8 billion, depending on the variables that are included. A year earlier, Aabar Investments, the owner of Cepsa, and Edgeworth, also submitted bids. But they were not accepted.

As we wait to see what will happen over the next two months, AGC leads the rest of the candidates to acquire Santander’s headquarters.

One of the possible counter-offers could come from Edgeworth, which negotiated a €2 billion loan with JPMorgan to participate in the liquidation plan. It also proposed that the company exit from bankruptcy without the need to be liquidated.

This operation would generate a sale with significant gains for the funds that entered the process by buying Marme’s debt from financial institutions. They include Blackstone, Canyon and Monarch.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake