Tag: business model

Domo Activos Approves a Capital Increase of €20M

18 March 2019 – Idealista

Domo Activos has approved a capital increase amounting to €20 million, according to a statement issued by the company in the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (BORME).

The company will undertake the increase, which must be executed within a maximum period of one year, through the issue of up to 10 million shares at a price of €2.10.

The capital increase follows another approved by the company in September 2018 amounting to €5 million for the purchase of new land. The company owns buildable land in Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla, Valencia, Córdoba and Zaragoza.

The business model of Domo Activos involves the acquisition of land for the development of rental properties. After three years, those properties are then sold.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

MK Premium to Invest €8M in Asset Purchases in Barcelona

17 October 2018 – Eje Prime

MK Premium is focusing on Barcelona. The company led by the brothers Daniel and Sergio Leiva is going to invest €8 million in the acquisition of assets in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. With this commitment, the company will make its debut in municipalities such as L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet.

For Daniel Leiva, one of the co-founders of the company, “the time has come to expand our business opportunities to other municipalities bordering the Catalan capital, where there are real estate products that fit with our business model”.

The Catalan family office expects to announce its first purchase in the metropolitan area of Barcelona in the coming weeks. Moreover, the company is going to continue to renovate its properties to improve their conditions and returns.

These plans coincide with MK Premium’s business strategy over the medium term. The company is planning to expand its capital estate by 50% and to extend its presence to other cities in Spain.

Founded in 2012, MK Premium owns buildings in Madrid and in Portugal – it first expanded to that country at the end of December. The Spanish real estate firm is planning to increase its real estate investment by 15% this year and close 2018 with a profit, following the acquisition of more than eighty assets.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

KKH Has Spent €500M+ In Spain & Wants To Invest More

17 July 2017 – El País

After the abrupt collapse of the real estate sector following the burst of the bubble, it was five years before capital returned to the industry. And it did so five years ago, when the recovery in the sector was based essentially on investment funds with foreign names, which bought anything ranging from portfolios of properties from the administrations to buildings that were weighing down heavily on the banks. One of the funds that arrived then was the KKH Capital Group. Rather it made its return to Spain then.

The instrument was led by the person who until 2007 had been the CEO of Renta Corporación, Josep María Farré. He returned to Spain after a six-year break with the intention of building a portfolio of properties exceeding €300 million. Five years later, and after joining the US fund Perella Weinberg, the resulting alliance, KKH Property Investors has now spent €500 million and is considering expanding its financial muscle to continue acquiring buildings.

After undertaking acquisitions in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, KKH recently entered the Spanish capital. There, it purchased the former headquarters of the Caja Madrid Foundation, in Plaza de las Descalzas, which it is going to convert into a 170-room luxury hotel. The building, which has a surface area of 25,000 m2, spread over seven floors and another two parking floors, could be operational by 2019 (…).

Buying and renovating

This acquisition fits perfectly into the company’s business model, which, unlike other funds, does not just sit back and wait for its properties to appreciate in value, but rather seeks to increase their value through renovation and, in most cases, changes of use. On paper, the model is similar to that employed by Renta Corporación, but sources in the sector highlight a significant difference: the real estate company used to try to hold onto properties for the shortest time possible. When the crisis hit, that logic became impossible.

The same operation that it undertook in Madrid – the transformation of a property into a large luxury hotel – was frustrated in Barcelona with the election of Ada Colau as mayor of that city. The group had acquired the iconic Deutsche Bank building, on Paseo de Gràcia, for around €90 million, according to market sources. That establishment was going to be managed by Four Seasons and was going to be another magnet to attract new investment to the area. In parallel, KKH was developing other hotels in the city. For example, it is still planning to open an establishment close the Santa Caterina market, under the Edition brand from Marriott International and the businessman Ian Schrager, by the end of this year.

Not in vain, hotels are one of the most sought-after assets at the moment, given the pull of the tourist sector. According to the consultancy firm CBRE, last year, investors spent €1,706 million on these assets in Spain after a record year in 2015, when they spent more than €2,000 million.

Nevertheless, when Colau’s team came to power, KKH withdrew from the hotel after her party opposed the project during its campaign and decided to build luxury apartments in its place. Barcelona’s new hotel plan, which prohibits new openings in the centre, has forced the fund to shift its focus. “New hotel projects in Barcelona are complicated. The areas where they can be built are not ideal for such use, but we have the vocation to continue operating in the city. We will adapt to the political situation and I am sure that we will continue”, said Enric Venancio, CEO at KKH. He added that besides Madrid, another key destination for the firm is Ibiza, where it started work last year on the construction of a luxury establishment.

In addition to hotels and luxury homes – (…) this fund has a third string to its bow, in the commercial segment. In an unprecedented operation in the Catalan capital, the fund is immersed in the conversion of the former Montecarlo hotel, on La Rambla, into a commercial space. (…).

Original story: El País (by Lluís Pellicer)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Domo Gestora’s Socimi Acquires Its First Plot Of Land

24 March 2017 – Inmodiario

Domo Activos Socimi, the Socimi promoted by the real estate manager Domo, has acquired its first asset. The asset in question is a plot of land, located in Ensanche de Vallecas, in Madrid, where the company plans to develop a residential building comprising 80 homes for rent with the option to buy. This Socimi’s business model focuses on buying land on which to construct buildings for their subsequent rental. Once the mandatory three years during which they must lease the properties out has passed, the Socimi will then proceed to sell them, whereby benefitting from the tax benefits enjoyed by these types of companies. In this way, all of the profits generated from the date the land is acquired until the date the properties are sold is taxed at 0% for Corporation Tax purposes.

According to the company’s estimates, the returns on this project, once the divestment has been made, could reach 10% per annum. Before the sale and whilst the properties are being leased, investors will receive profits resulting from the rental income, in the form of dividend payments.

Domo Activos Socimi will debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in the recently created sub-segment, called “Socimi under development”. Socimis that allocate less than 70% of their assets for rent trade there. In this case, Domo Activos Socimi will ask to be incorporated into this sub-segment, given that initially, it will own just one plot of land.

Domo Activos Socimi’s business model allows its shareholders to participate in the advantages and returns offered by traditional Socimis, as well as in the returns offered by the development and construction of properties.

Domo Activos Socimi plans to file its request to join the MAB during the first half of 2017. This milestone will allow Domo to fulfil one of the main objectives that it set itself when it launched this Socimi, namely, to enable small and medium-sized investors to access investments with these characteristics.

Domo Activos Socimi has successfully completed its first capital increase, which has allowed it to acquire this plot of land and for the time being and until it debuts on the MAB, with the traditional “Ringing of the bell”, it may increase its share capital again, which would likely require a minimum necessary investment per shareholder of €100,000.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Popular Puts RE Assets Worth €8,000M Up For Sale

20 January 2016 – El País

Banco Popular has made a commitment to investors and analysts to sell around €8,000 million in real estate assets that were foreclosed due to non-payment during the financial crisis. This amount represents approximately 30% of its bad bank, into which the entity led by Ángel Ron has placed the assets that have depreciated by the most and which are provisioned. In this way, the entity may be able to clean up its balance sheet.

Market sources believe that if Banco Popular ends up achieving this objective, it will generate profits of around €200 million, thanks to the recovery of provisions already recognised and the lower operating costs that will result from the disposal of such a large volume of properties. The entity declined to comment on its plans. The proposed real estate operation is seeking to change this negative trend, which reflects the doubts over its future.

The transaction will be divided into two parts: on the one hand, the entity led by Ángel Ron plans to set the branch network a target of selling €4,000 million of properties, which would require it to double the volume of sales recorded in 2014 and last year. The bank will try to take advantage of the improvement in the real estate market in recent months to avoid making losses on its sales.

On the other hand, Popular is negotiating with various real estate and vulture funds, regarding the creation of a special vehicle into which it would place €4,000 million of assets linked to property. The entity has not managed to close any agreement with these investors yet because the discount they are demanding is very high and it is not willing to accept such a reduction.

The perils of the stock exchange

Popular is the subject of numerous rumours about a possible takeover by one of the three largest entities (in Spain), which may be seeking to take advantage of its significant decline on the stock exchange. Nevertheless, “the entity complies fully with the (capital) requirements established by the supervisor”, according to an explanation provided by its managers in December, after figures were published showing that it complied with the ECB’s capital requirements.

Despite that, Popular’s share price has decreased by 23% in the last month and is trading at its lowest level for a year. The market value of its shares on the stock exchange amounts to just over €5,000 million, which makes it an attractive bank given its business model, and its significant penetration in the SMEs and retail markets. Popular’s share price is trading at a five year low.

Popular has always refused to participate in any operation in which it would lose control of the merged entity, but it has also admitted that anyone wishing to acquire the bank will have to pay a high premium to the shareholders. Meanwhile, the market is punishing its market capitalisation: Bankinter, which has assets amounting to around €60,000 million, compared with Popular’s €160,000 million, is worth more than Popular on the stock exchange. Bankinter’s market capitalisation amounts to around €5,400 million, i.e. around €400 million higher than Popular’s.

Original story: El País (by Iñigo de Barrón)

Translation: Carmel Drake