Tag: BP

BP Acquires Portfolio of Petrol Stations in Madrid

4 January 2020 – The British giant BP has acquired the petrol stations belonging to the Comillas 2 Group, which is controlled by José Luis Fernández Martínez, a major shareholder in the chemical group Sniace. The portfolio includes fifteen petrol stations in the region of Madrid.

The petrol stations are considered attractive due to their elevated sales and added services. BP also acquired a portfolio of 65 gas stations in 2018 from Kingbook Capital and Petrocorner Retail.

El gigante británico BP ha adquirido las estaciones de servicio que pertenecen al Grupo Comillas 2, controlado por José Luis Fernández Martínez, uno de los principales accionistas del grupo químico Sniace. La cartera incluye quince estaciones de servicio en la región de Madrid.

Las estaciones de servicio se consideran atractivas debido a sus elevadas ventas y servicios adicionales. BP también adquirió una cartera de 65 estaciones de servicio en 2018 de Kingbook Capital y Petrocorner Retail.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Juan Cruz Peña

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Starwood Capital Finalises the Purchase of an Office Portfolio for €125M

24 January 2019 – Expansión

The fund Starwood Capital is seeking to strengthen its presence in Spain with the purchase of a portfolio of offices in Madrid and Barcelona. Specifically, Starwood is finalising the purchase of an office complex in Madrid, comprising four buildings, and another one in Barcelona from the Socimi Autonomy for €125 million, according to explanations from market sources speaking to Expansión.

In the case of Madrid, the four office blocks are located in the north of the city, inside the Omega business park, in the Arroyo de la Vega area. They span a combined surface area of 33,458 m2 and have 940 parking spaces.

The Omega Business Park, which is home to the headquarters of companies such as Samsung, BP and Allianz, is located next to the airport of Madrid and has become one of the most established areas in the north of the capital.

Besides the offices in Madrid, the operation also includes a new build property in the 22@ district of Barcelona, with a surface area of 12,596 m2.

The building in Barcelona comprises two towers connected by a common entrance hall, with twelve and four floors, respectively. The building also contains commercial premises and 216 parking spaces.

The building on Calle Pallars is occupied by tenants such as Regus, General Electric and Ticketmaster. The operation has been advised by the real estate consultancy CBRE, on the vendor side, and by Drago Capital, which has advised the buyer and which will manage the properties (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Plans to Open 1,000 Gas Station Stores in Conjunction with Repsol

15 October 2018 – Real Estate Press

There are almost 11,500 gas stations in Spain, of which more than 8,500 have shops. El Corte Inglés was one of the first groups to operate in conjunction with oil companies and that group is now planning to open 1,000 new gas station stores together with Repsol.

Gas station stores typically have a wide range of opening hours, span an extensive network and are easy to stop at to make quick purchases. It was only a matter of time before distribution groups decided to team up with oil companies to manage their service station stores. Now the time has come for those formats to flourish.

The formula allows supermarket chains to grow rapidly without having to recruit staff or undertake significant investments. Meanwhile, the petrol companies benefit from offering more attractive service stations, with a more extensive range of products and a lower cost base by entrusting the management of their stores to specialists with a volume of purchases that generates significant savings.

Sales at gas station stores amounted to €580 million in 2017, although the potential of this format is much greater.

Forecast growth

El Corte Inglés was one of the first groups to operate agreements with petrol companies. Initially, it constituted the company Gespevesa together with Repsol in 1998, which they control (50%) and which owns 39 service stations. Last year, that entity recorded revenues of €39.2 million, down by 26% and earned profits of €3.8 million, up by 28%. Next, it joined forces with Cepsa to develop a refuelling discount strategy. And, now, it has committed to a major agreement with Repsol to create “the largest network of convenience stores in Spain” under the brand Supercor Stop & Go.

Carrefour has also changed its petrol partner over the years: it started working on this type of alliance with BP, but in 2013, it opted to join Cepsa to grow a new format, Carrefour Express Cepsa, which currently comprises 333 stores. One fact serves to explain the importance of this agreement for the French group, namely, that it is the format with the most stores in around twenty Spanish provinces, including Asturias, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Castellón, Lleida, Toledo, Valladolid and Zaragoza, amongst others.

Día is the other group that has heavily backed the format, with the launch of a pilot project together with BP in four of its gas stations in Madrid under the Shop brand. Previously, in 2015, Dia signed an agreement in collaboration with Disa (Shell) to supply the counters in five of its stores. BP has also worked with other partners. Between 2013 and 2016, Alcampo supplied products, including its own brand range, to stores in its gas stations. Moreover, BP has operated some regional alliances for years with other smaller supermarket chains to generate benefits through their loyalty cards (…).

Finally, Galp, the fifth largest petrol company in Spain, has not been averse to these agreements either; it has worked with GM Food, the former Miquel Group. Their partnership began in 2013, with 12 pilot stores operating under the Sar brand; it continued the alliance once that project had finished, with the Catalan group as the supplier of its stores; and now, the two firms have started another trial in eight locations under the format Suma Exprés.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

BP Acquires 65 Gas Stations in Spain from Avenue Capital and JZ International

2 October 2018

The British oil company has reached an agreement to take over 100% of Kingbook Inversiones Socimi and Petrocorner Retail, the owner and manager of gas stations in 21 provinces of Spain.

The oil company BP has reached an agreement with the venture capital funds Avenue Capital and JZ International for the acquisition of the Kingbook socimi and Petrocorner Retail, a company that owns and operates 65 gas stations spread across 21 provinces in Spain.

The operation has already been finalised, pending the corresponding regulatory approvals, as confirmed by official sources at BP.

Kingbook Inversiones, 60% owned by GL Europe REIT (Avenue), with the remaining 40% held by JZ Real Estate (JZI), both vehicles domiciled in the Cayman Islands, was delisted from the Alternative Stock Market (MAB) on July 20, just one year after its debut.

Kingbook had already warned in June that it was conducting “very advanced” negotiations for the sale of 100% of the company. The firm had been building its portfolio since 2014.

Another source close to the operation said that DISA (Shell in the Peninsula), the Canary Islands oil company chaired by Demetrio Carceller (Damm), also considered acquiring the asset.

The service stations that will become the property of the company formerly known as British Petroleum are distributed between the north, the centre and the southeast of Spain. Specifically, the oil company chaired by Luis Aires in Spain will increase its presence in Asturias, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, Navarra, León, Burgos, Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, Madrid, Valencia, Albacete, Alicante, Murcia, Jaén, Huelva, Málaga, Granada, Almería and the Balearic Islands.

BP is thus consolidating its position as the third largest fuel distributor in Spain, behind Repsol and Cepsa and ahead of Galp and Shell. With this agreement, BP will control around 700 service stations in Spain. In 2017, the company stated, within its expansion strategy, that it owned 648 total stations.

Until now, these gas stations were operated by Petrocorner, which has also acquired BP. According to Petrocorner’s website, the service stations are branded by Repsol, Cepsa, BP, Shell, Galp, Avia, while some are independent.

According to the latest accounts sent to the Mercantile Registry, Kingbook lost more than €1.5 million in 2017, compared to a loss of €1,733,446 in 2016.

Although the price of the transaction was not disclosed, the statement company submitted to MAB said that its assets were valued, according to the consultancy CBRE, at approximately 70 million euros (€40 million book value).

Avenue Capital has participated in several important operations in Spain. The US fund gave financial support to Quabit and is participating in the purchase of debt from Banco Santander’s Ciudad Financeira. In June, the fund acquired tile company Roig Cerámica (Rocersa).

Original Story: El Confidencial – Juan Cruz Peña

Photo: Reuters

Translation: Richard Turner

Axiare Acquires Capgemini’s HQ In Madrid For €43.5M

1 February 2017 – Press Release

Axiare Patrimonio has closed two operations to further strengthen its business plan. On the one hand, it has completed the purchase of an office building and on the other hand, it has signed a financing agreement amounting to more than €34 million with Santander. It will reinvest the new funds into assets.

The Socimi led by Luis López de Herrera-Oria has formalised the acquisition of the Cedro Building in Madrid for €43.5 million. The property is a prime office block, with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 17,032m2 and 381 parking spaces and it is leased almost in its entirety to the consultancy firm Capgemini.

The operation will result in immediate revenues for Axiare Patrimonio, given that the asset has an occupancy rate of almost 90%. The property, constructed in the year 2000, is located on Calle Anabel Segura, in the Arroyo de la Vega area of the capital, where lots of large companies – such as ING, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Indra, BP and Mercedes Benz – have their headquarters and next to an exclusive residential area. Moreover, this asset has direct access to the A-1 motorway and is well connected to the airport, the CBD and the main ring-roads in Madrid.

Luis López de Herrera-Oria, CEO at Axiare Patrimonio said (…) “The Cedro Building is a very institutional product thanks to its location, its main tenant and the quality of its construction. This operation involves the purchase of a strategic asset, which has great potential for capital appreciation”.

The valuation of Axiare Patrimonio’s asset portfolio currently stands at around €1,350 million. 74% of the Socimi’s assets are offices, of which almost half are strategically located in the CBDs of Madrid and Barcelona; 16% are logistics warehouses, located in key hubs for the distribution of goods throughout Spain; and the remaining 10% are retail parks, which receive large numbers of visitors.

For this acquisition, Axiare Patrimonio has been advised by EY on the legal, technical and commercial side. Meanwhile, the vendor has been advised by Garrigues on the legal side and by Aguirre Newman and JLL on the commercial side.

Moreover, the banks continue to maintain complete faith in Axiare Patrimonio. The new financing agreement that the Socimi has just signed with Santander is another example of this. Specifically, Axiare has signed two financing agreements with the financial institution, taking the total balance of funds that it has received from the banks since its debut on the stock market to €572 million.

The new loans with Santander have been signed with some very flexible conditions and at a very competitive interest rate, in line with the company’s financial strategy. The loans will result in a €34.2 million cash inflow for the company, which it will use to continue expanding and improving its existing portfolio.

Axiare Patrimonio’s CEO said: “The company’s financing structure is one of the most stable and competitive in the market” (…) “Since our debut on the stock market two and a half years ago, we have signed agreements with several banking institutions. Santander, ING and CaixaBank have been our largest lenders, which is proof of the confidence that they have in our portfolio and in our ability to manage the company.

For this operation, Axiare Patrimonio has received legal advice from Gómez-Acebo y Pombo, whilst Santander has been advised by Watson Farley & Williams.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake