Tag: Blackstone

Blackstone Creates Logistics Firm Mileway with €8 Billion in Assets

30 September 2019 – Blackstone has created Mileway; a company focused on last-mile logistics in the main European markets. The company is planning on gaining share in markets where it is already present and expanding its presence to other countries.

Mileway’s portfolio consists of roughly 1,000 logistic assets with a total of nine million square meters of surface area, valued at €8 billion. The logistics assets are in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.

Blackstone has been acquiring last-mile logistics assets through piecemeal transactions and portfolio acquisitions, including its €1.3 billion acquisition of Hansteen.

Original Story: misoficinas.com

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Investment Funds Eye Thomas Cook’s Assets in Spain

30 September 2019 – International investment funds are already circling over Thomas Cook’s assets in Spain after its bankruptcy last week. Investor interest is focusing on the Balearic Islands, where Cook operates about 20 units.

Blackstone has recently been the most active buyer in the Balearic Islands through its hotel division, HI Partners. The groups Atom Hotels, Portobello Capital, Covivio, CBRE Global Investors, Corum AM, Elaia Investment, Apple Leisure Group, KKR and Hispania are also active in the region.

Beyond the failure of Thomas Cook, a recent fall in tourist arrivals from Germany has also put pressure on some small and medium-sized operators, providing more fodder for the mill.

Original Story: Preferente

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

 

Blackstone Looks to Sell Espacio León for €100 Million

16 September 2019 – Blackstone is looking to sell the Espacio León shopping centre, in the provincial capital of León, for 100 million euros. The US-based investment giant initially acquired the asset in 2015, together with another two shopping centres in Portugal.

Espacio León has an area of 37,000 square meters, with 1,500 parking spaces. In mall boasts 141 stores and receives approximately five million visitors per year.

Original Story: Eje Prime

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Blackstone Fails to Sell Portfolio of More Than 1,000 Homes

16 September 2019 – The US-based investment giant Blackstone has cancelled the sale of a portfolio of more than 1,000 un-subsidised rental flats in Barcelona and Madrid. The financial services firm had been asking for approximately 180 million euros for the asset. Market sources see the cancellation as a confirmation that the market is softening due to political uncertainty, regulatory changes and a cooling economy. Blackstone now reportedly plans to sell the properties off piecemeal, much as it did with its proposed sale of three subsidised apartment blocks to Vivenio.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Ruth Ugalde

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

 

Colonial, Merlin and Lar Rotating Assets Worth €2.5 Billion

20 August 2019

Spain’s largest socimis have all been taking advantage of the benign economic climate to implement a strategy of asset rotation, selling off non-strategic assets to raise funds for further investments. Colonial, Merlin and Lar España have completed more than 2.5 billion euros in divestments over the past two years.

Of the four, Colonial has been most active in this regard. The socimi has sold assets worth approximately €1.5 billion in the last two years, more than half stemming from its acquisition of Axiare. In October 2018, Colonial sold seven office buildings to Tristan Capital Partners and Real IS, as well as a development under construction in Madrid to Grupo Catalana Occidente, for 441 million euros. Of the seven properties sold, five originated with Axiare.

Colonial also recently sold a portfolio of 18 logistics assets, covering an area of 473,000 square meters, to Prologis for an estimated €425 million. What’s more, the socimi sold an office building in Paris for €450 million in mid-2017. The firm is investing the proceeds of some of its sales, allocating €468 million in twelve projects under development in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris, the three markets where the company operates.

Merlin, for its part, sold its 17% stake in Testa to Blackstone last September for €321 million. The firm also sold its portfolio of hotels to Foncière des Regions for €535 million. Lar has also sold €425 million of assets in the last 18 months. Of that, €120 million stemmed from the sale of a logistics portfolio to Blackstone, while another €190 million resulted from the sale of four office buildings in Madrid and Barcelona and some small retail assets.

Original Story: Expansión – Rebeca Arroyo

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Colonial Finalises Sale of €425MM Logistics Portfolio

7 August 2019

Colonial and Prologis have finalised the sale of a €425-million logistics portfolio that the socimi put up for sale four months ago. The portfolio includes 12 logistics platforms and warehouses and features a 131,000-m2 logistics complex in the San Fernando industrial estate.

Prologis beat out competing offers by Deutsche Bank and Blackstone. Colonial was advised by JLL and Knight Frank; while CBRE advised Prologis.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Ruth Ugalde

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Blackstone Announces Sale of €200-Million Portfolio of Homes

5 August 2019

Blackstone has put up for sale a portfolio of residential assets that contains free and protected housing worth 200 million euros. The US-firm has initiated a process of asset rotation after five years of acquisitions.

The American fund finalised its first major sale in Spain in July. The loans it sold were part of a €5.5-billion portfolio of mortgages the fund acquired from Catalunya Banc in 2014.

Original Story: Idealista

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

UBS Negotiating Sale of Barcelona’s Torre Tarragona to Blackstone

5 August 2019

Blackstone is currently in negotiations to buy the Tarragona Tower from UBS for between 100 and 110 million euros. UBS Global Asset Management acquired the tower in 2015 for €72 million from Omega Capital, subsequently investing another €10-million in renovations. The expected sales price would result in a capital gain of roughly 25% for the Swiss bank. Both firms declined to comment.

The tower, located next to the Sants railway station in Barcelona in a highly sought-after area, opened in 1998. The asset has ​​18,150 m2 of surface area spread over 19 floors and 250 parking spaces. The main tenants include Pepsico, Acens (a subsidiary of Telefónica), Quercus and Gentec.

Original Story: Cinco Dias – Alfonso Simón Ruiz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Colonial Increases Occupancy as Logistics Sale Nears Conclusion

31 July 2019

Colonial, which is in the process of selling a €450-million portfolio of logistics asset, presented excellent results in the first semester of 2019.  The managed to get its occupancy rate from 85% to 90% in the first six months of the year, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the assets on sale.

The socimi’s logistics portfolio consists of a total of 574,462 square meters, located in Madrid, Barcelona and its surroundings, Guadalajara, Tarragona and Seville.

Prologis, Deutsche Bank and Blackstone are seen as the three final candidates for Colonial’s logistics portfolio. At first, Blackstone was the considered the likely winner of the auction, but recently Prologis, a US-based logistics operator, has pulled ahead.

The operation is part of Prologis’s bid to become one of the main actors in the Spanish logistics market. The American firm currently owns 850,000 square meters of high quality assets in prime areas. In total, the company manages 72 million square meters of logistics platforms in 19 countries.

Original Story: Merca2 – Carlos Lospitao

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Blackstone Selling More Than €900 Million in Assets

9 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

The U.S. giant Blackstone, following an asset rotation policy, has begun to sell some of the assets it has acquired since it began operations in Spain in 2012. Specifically, Blackstone is selling off some of the portfolio it took on upon its acquisition of Hispania.

So far, Blackstone has accumulated a portfolio valued at more than 23 billion euros. After its acquisition of Hispania, the US investment giant has already sold several office buildings. Blackstone is also analysing the sale of some of the residential assets it controls through its socimi Fidere, which is listed on the Alternative Stock Market (MAB). In total, counting completed and expected sales, the American fund will pocket more than €900 million.

Ilunion is one of the principal portfolios of assets Blackstone has sold so far this year. The assets include five office buildings in Madrid, which sold at the beginning of the year to a subsidiary of Zurich Seguros, Rex Spain ZDHL, for €163.6 million.  The American giant is analysing further investment opportunities in the country.

Original Story: Expansion – Rebeca Arroyo