Neinor Withdraws from the Purchase Process of ‘Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios’

28 February 2019 – El Español

Neinor Homes is not going to be one of the candidates that submits an offer to acquire Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios (SDI), the subsidiary of Banco Sabadell. The real estate company has been studying the operation for a while but has concluded, following its initial analysis, that the numbers do not fit with its investment philosophy.

That is according to explanations provided by Neinor’s CEO, Juan Velayos, who acknowledged that he has the sales prospectus on his desk but that at the moment, “it is not a priority” for him. We are talking about a company that has a portfolio of 300 buildable plots and which the bank led by Jaime Guardiola put up for sale in January.

Velayos himself acknowledges that he “loves the portfolio”, but he’s not so convinced by the numbers being seen in the market”. (…). “I’m afraid that it is not going to be for us from the perspective of a disciplined investor”, he said. The first valuations of SDI’s land are in the region of €1.3 billion, given that the portfolio also includes 130 real estate developments in different areas with 5,000 homes under construction.

Indeed, the price of land is one of Neinor’s obsessions. Over the last year, it has purchased 2,400 plots in which it has invested €95 million. Neinor’s CEO believes that his firm has adopted a prudent policy in this regard (…).

As a result, it looks like Neinor will not be one of the candidates to bid for Sabadell’s subsidiary in the end. The bank is awaiting possible expressions of interest for its land company. The intention is to receive binding offers before the end of this quarter and to settle the sale during the month of April.

Interested parties

In terms of the parties that are interested in SDI, they include some of the main international funds such as Cerberus, Värde, Oaktree and Blackstone (…).

The sale of SDI comes after Banco Sabadell sold Solvia, its real estate servicer for €300 million, for which it obtained capital gains of €185 million (…).

Original story: El Español (by Arturo Criado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Atlético de Madrid will Sell the Calderón Land in Q1 2019

2 February 2019 – Expansión

Following the demolition of the stadium, the club will be able to sell the plots where 600 homes are expected to be built.

The project to urbanise the Mahou-Calderón area, which will convert the surface area currently occupied by Atlético de Madrid’s former stadium into homes and tertiary use, has taken a step forward. Within the next few weeks, work is expected to start on the demolition of the Vicente Calderón, which will enable progress to take place with the reparcelling and subsequent sale of the land.

The Madrilenian club, owner of 50% of the surface area, will then be able to proceed with the sale of the land, which has a surface area of 14,866 m2 and a buildability of more than 63,000 m2. On this plot, between 550 and 600 homes may be built, with prices of around €6,000/m2.

Besides the Madrilenian club, the other owner of the land is Mahou San Miguel. The brewery company has not yet taken a decision regarding the sale of its share.

Candidates

Sources at the club have indicated to Expansión that several parties are interested in these plots, which constitute the last major stock of land left inside the M-30. The potential buyers of the plots include investment funds, property developers, joint ventures between the two and cooperatives. “We are holding very advanced negotiations with three of them with the idea of formalising the operation this quarter”, they state.

In terms of the timings, once work has started on the demolition of the stadium, which is expected to begin in the coming days, the reparceling project will continue, which will last for the months of February and March. Once the plots have been registered in the registry, they will be available for sale. The Project will carry out the urbanisation and building work at the same time in such a way that the homes could be ready within three or four years (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo & E. Santos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus, Intrum & DoBank Bid to Acquire Altamira

15 November 2018 – El Confidencial

There is still an appetite for the servicers’ business. The sale of the 85% stake that Apollo owns in Altamira is making its first cut of candidates, with some of the most high profile investors in the segment amongst the finalists. According to financial sources, the fund Cerberus (Haya Real Estate), the Swedish firm Intrum (Nordic Capital) and the Italian firm DoBank (Fortress) are the candidates that have progressed in the process, which is being coordinated by Goldman Sachs, and which was relaunched after the summer following months on the table.

Other players in the sector interested in Spain are also in the process, both at the domestic and European level. One of those new candidates is the US firm Davidson Kempner, which has a portfolio of USD 30 billion under management and with interests in the transformation of toxic assets in the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to sources involved in the operation.

Apollo is willing to take advantage of the hunger for this type of vehicle to make gains, although it does so after four years at the helm of the servicer and having not been awarded any of the large real estate portfolios that the banks have sold (Santander to Blackstone, BBVA to Cerberus, CaixaBank to Lone Star and the Sabadell-Solvia process, in whose final stretch it is not participating). In fact, this divestment comes after Apollo’s manager for the last few years – Andrés Rubio – left the fund.

The price of the management platform could reach €1.5 billion (debt included), a business for which Apollo paid €664 million in January 2014 in exchange for an 85% stake (the remaining 15% is still owned by Banco Santander). The agreement comprised the management of toxic assets (recovery of loans and sale of properties) until 2028, although the transformation of that perimeter has led to a change in the management conditions (commissions) and to the repayment of a €200 million dividend.

Altamira has assets under management amounting to more than €50 billion, compared with €26 billion in 2014, and a portfolio comprising more than 82,000 properties at the end of 2017, making it the largest servicer in operation in Spain. In addition to its contract with Santander, it also manages assets for Sareb (which account for 30% of its portfolio) and for third parties – international investors, financial institutions, family offices and institutional clients – as a result of the international expansion plan launched in 2017.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Carlos Hernanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Värde Sells Reyal Urbis’ Debt & Launches Bid For Habitat

7 June 2017 – Expansión

Corporate movements / The US fund is selling its stake in the debt of the property developer to the firm Taconic Capital after failing to reach an agreement ahead of the liquidation. In exchange, it will strengthen its commitment to Habitat.

After several intense weeks of negotiations, Värde has put an end to its relationship with Reyal Urbis. The US firm’s first dealings with the real estate firm saw it purchase a package of debt at the height of the process to negotiate an agreement that would allow the property developer to emerge from the bankruptcy proceeding in which it has been immersed since 2013. In a repeat of the deal struck with the real estate arm of San José, the final objective of the US fund was to obtain access to Reyal Urbis’ portfolio of assets (primarily land) by exchanging it for debt. To this end, Värde had started to negotiate with some of the most high-profile creditors, to buy up loans and propose an orderly liquidation plan, according to sources in the sector.

Nevertheless, Värde’s plans were thwarted by the Tax Authorities. Reyal owes the Public Administration more than €400 million (…), which was not willing to accept Värde’s proposal. As such, the US fund opted to sell its stake to another fund, specifically, to Taconic Capital.

According to sources in the sector, in addition to Taconic, some of Reyal’s other creditors include other funds such as Aurelius and Morgan Stanley. It will be them, along with the banks such as Santander, the Tax Authorities and Sareb who will now decide the future of the company.

Habitat

The decision to sell its debt in Reyal Urbis does not represent a setback in Värde’s commitment to the Spanish real estate sector and, in fact, the fund has already placed its focus on another one of the country’s large real estate companies: the Catalan firm Promociones Habitat.

Controlled by several funds such as Bank of America, Melf, Goldman Sachs and SP 101, the owners of Habitat put the company up for sale in March, through a process organised by the consultancy firm Irea.

These funds acquired stakes in Habitat’s share capital in 2015, after exchanging the debt that they acquired months earlier from the creditor bank. Although a longer period of continuity in the company was established at the time, in the end, the investors have decided to exit two years early, in light of the interest that investors have expressed in the Spanish real estate company. Although the process is still in its initial phase, Värde seems to be the best-placed candidate to purchase it, according to sources close to the process. The sale of the company is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Sources in the sector indicate that other possible candidates in the running to acquire Habitat include Apollo, Cerberus, Bain Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Habitat is one of the most highly regarded Catalan real estate companies in the sector. Led by Bruno Figueras, the company filed for voluntary creditor bankruptcy at the end of 2008, a process that it then emerged from in 2010 (…). After a series of negotiations with the creditors (…), the banks that had financed Habitat back in the day agreed to give way to the international funds that specialise in debt purchases. Two years later, those same funds have started to look for their exit route.

The real estate company has convened a General Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on 21 June 2017, where it will present the results for last year. In 2015, the most recent year for which results are publicly availabe, Habitat recorded revenues of €10.53 million, compared to €27.7 million in 2014. (…), which translated into gains of €1,073 million in 2015, compared with losses of €370 million the year before (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Empark’s Owners Engage JP Morgan To Sell The Giant For €850M

19 May 2017 – Expansión

Empark is back on the market. The Portuguese controlling shareholders of the car park company have engaged JP Morgan to find a buyer for an entity worth around €850 million, on the basis of the prices and valuations of other similar transactions in the sector. Empark is the leading car park company in Spain with 500,000 parking spaces in the Iberian Peninsula, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The firm’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) amounts to €65 million and its debt, which the company has been restructuring over the last year, amounts to €475 million.

Following the most recent changes, Empark’s shareholder structure is still dominated by the Portuguese investors Silva & Silva, which own 78% of the company. The second largest shareholder is the Chinese conglomerate Haitong, with a 14% stake.

The company’s control vehicle is dominated by the founding families, who participate in the management of the group. The main executives of Empark are José Augusto Tavares, Pedro Mendes (Executive President) and Antonio Moura.

The last attempt to sell the company was made in 2015. Then, the company progressed to the stage of selecting a buyer, Vinci Park (Ardian), but the operation did not come to fruition. Vinci Park reported the breakdown in its negotiations to buy Empark in July of that year after finalising its due diligence work, which produced unsatisfactory findings. Ultimately, the company was concerned about Empark’s high exposure to town halls which, following the local elections held that year, were considering “re-municipalisation”.

Sources close to the fund Ardian say that they are not interested in the operation at the moment. The infrastructure investment giant put Indigo (formerly Vinci park) up for sale this year for around €3,000 million. The sale of Empark is quite complex, given that the shares of the car park company serve, in turn, to secure the shareholders’ personal loans.

According to sources close to the operation, the Portuguese shareholders have dragged the other shareholders into the sale and have been given until the beginning of October to find a buyer. They are keen to leverage the ‘drag along clause’ set out in the company’s shareholder agreements (which means that when a third party makes an offer to purchase the company by buying all of its share capital, then the shareholder that has the ‘drag along right’ may force the other shareholders to sell their stakes to the buyer).

Sources in the sector believe that if Pedro Mendes and his partners do not find an investor with a reasonable offer in time, Haitong may push ahead with the operation by itself or with one of Empark’s creditor banks. Deutsche Bank is one of the company’s latest lenders. The German bank manages the fund RREEF Infrastructure.

One of the possible candidates to analyse the purchase operation is the fund First State, which acquired España Parkia from the Nordic fund EQT and Mutua Madrileña in 2016 for just over €300 million. The US fund Alinda is also very active in Spain. It has made an offer to buy Isolux’s car park portfolio. Another candidate could be the Chinese firm Haitong

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Carmena Will Not Sever Ties With Banks That Evict Families

27 May 2015 – El Confidencial Digital

The candidate for mayor of Madrid distances herself from Podemos and says that she will not apply the measure that Teresa Rodríguez imposed on Susana Díaz.

The greatest triumph of Podemos in the municipal elections held on 24 May has been the opportunity to become the mayor of the largest city in Spain. However, Manuela Carmena will govern Madrid without implementing one of the most controversial measures proposed by the party led by Pablo Iglesias.

It was after the elections in Andalucía when Podemos launched the headline-grabbing idea: to sever ties with the banks that force the eviction (of families) from homes with mortgages that the owners cannot pay.

The leader and regional candidate, Teresa Rodríguez, proposed this measure during talks with Susana Díaz to negotiate a possible agreement to allow the inauguration of the socialist as President of the Regional Government. Firstly, she demanded that the Andalucían Government should not work with banks that carry out evictions and next, she reduced the condition to require that the Government should not hold accounts with financial institutions that evict those unable to pay their mortgages.

After proposing this measure, several municipal candidates supported by Podemos for the May 24 elections included in their electoral program, or at least declared in public, their commitment to severing ties with banks involved in evictions.

Negotiations with the banks and non-retaliation

However, Confidencial Digital has learned that this measure will not be applied by the candidate who will govern Madrid’s town hall, given that Ahora Madrid did not include this idea in its election manifesto.

Sources close to the candidacy of Manuela Carmena confirm that this measure is not included in her election manifesto and therefore, she does not plan to apply it if she ends up ruling the municipal government of Spain’s capital.

“Ahora Madrid is committed to stopping evictions”, says the electoral manifesto of the municipal brand of Podemos for these elections. Below, it details a series of proposals that the town hall will undertake to avoid evicting people from primary residences and, in the event that they do take place, to offer an alternatives for evicted families.

Nevertheless, at no time does it mention “non-retaliation” against the banks that carry out evictions. Carmena’s manifesto includes only, amongst other measures, incentives for use to be made of  empty homes held by the financial institutions or the “bad bank” (Sareb), through agreements whereby the homes are transferred to the public stock of housing for use in the rental scheme.

Other Podemos candidates do support the measure

It is noteworthy that the candidacy of Ahora Madrid is distancing itself from one of the measures that, after being proposed by Teresa Rodríguez in Andalucía, was supported by many of the candidates that stood in the municipal elections, with the support of Podemos.

That is the case in Sevilla, where Participa Sevilla publicly committed that, if it was elected to the Town Hall, the Sevilla government would not work with banks that evict (people). Its candidate for mayor, Susana Serrano, even asserted that “it is inconsistent that the money from evicted families is held in the same banks that evicts them”.

Participa Sevilla will be key to enabling the socialist Juan Espadas to take the capital of Andalucía from the Popular candidate Juan Igancio Zoido. But the proposals made by the candidates supported by Podemos are more noteworthy; furthermore, they have won the elections and, presumably, will govern the town halls.

In La Coruña, Marea Atlántica – which won four more votes than the second ranked party, the PP – intends to apply the “cancelation of balances with banking institutions that carry out evictions”. Meanwhile, Barcelona En Comú, which has won with Ada Colau as the leader, is going to study measures to put pressure on the banks that do not negotiate with the town hall to put a stop to the evictions: including, “putting a stop to trading with the banking entities in question” and imposing sanctions on those banks.

Original story: El Confidencial Digital

Translation: Carmel Drake