Tag: Clifford Chance

GreenOak Acquires Office Complex in Madrid

30 August 2018

Axa placed the asset, located at 34 Calle Albarracín, on sale for 25 million euros last March. The transaction’s final price was not disclosed.

GreenOak is expanding its real estate portfolio in Spain. The US fund just completed its acquisition of an office complex in Madrid. The asset, located at 34 Calle Albarracín, has an area of ​​9,800 square meters. The price paid by GreenOak was not disclosed.

Axa initially announced its intention to sell the property for 25 million euros, last March, hoping to take advantage of the growth of the office market in Madrid. The building, which houses the headquarters of the Euromaster tire group and the CTO Group, was completely rehabilitated in 2016. Clifford Chance and Arcadis acted as advisers to GreenOak, and Savills Aguirre Newman advised the seller.

The complex has a 92% occupancy rate and both Euromaster and CTO have long-term leases. In addition to the three offices, the asset also has 194 parking spaces.

GreenOak is present in almost every sector of the Spanish real estate market. One of its principal assets is the Las Mercedes Business Park, one of the largest business parks in Madrid.

Original Story: EjePrime

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Témpore Properties Appoints Directors & Finalises its IPO

6 March 2018 – Expansión

Témpore Properties, the Socimi created by Sareb, has started the countdown to its debut on the stock market. It will make the leap within the next few weeks, possibly before Easter, once the bureaucratic procedures have been completed. It will list on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), like the vast majority of the 50 Socimis whose shares already trade on the stock market.

The company has been created with a selection of 1,500 assets, of which 1,383 are urban residential properties that generate returns of 3% per annum. The remainder are storerooms and garages. The combined value of the assets amounts to €175 million. Témpore’s size places it in the low-medium bracket in the sector, excluding Socimis backed by family capital. Its perimeter may be increased depending on the needs of Sareb, which has been backing property development in recent times. “Other Socimis do not have that option”, explain sources at the bad bank.

Azora is the manager of the Socimi and Renta 4 and Clifford Chance are advising the IPO process.

Yesterday, the Board of Témpore Properties held its first meeting after approving agreements relating to the entity’s internal operation and the listing process. The Socimi is chaired by Juan Ramón Dios Rial, Director of Real Estate Development and Promotion at Sareb. During the course of his career, Mr Dios has held various positions at TSB Bank, Citigroup, General Electric Capital Bank and Barclays España.

The Board of Directors comprises five members: three independent directors, one executive director and one proprietary director. They are Juan Ramón Dios, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, Socorro Fernández, Rafael de Mena and Galo Juan Sastre.

Appointments

Témpore Properties is going to be led by Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, who has been the Director of Rental Mangement at Sareb until now. He will serve as the CEO and will sit on the Board as an executive director. Previously, he worked at BBVA, was Director of the International Team at Metrovacesa and CEO of the French Socimi Gecina. The company’s Finance Director is going to be Pelayo Barriga, who has been performing the same role at Sareb until now.

With Témpore Properties, the managers of Sareb are intending to open a window into the rental market, which is proving more profitable than property sales in certain segments. Moreover, through this route, the bad bank is going to be able to access new private capital and slightly reduce its high level of indebtedness.

By law, Socimis are obliged to remunerate their shareholders, and so Sareb can expect to receive dividends from Témpore.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Lander)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Compagnie Secures Financing for Spain’s Largest New Shopping Centre

28 November 2017 – Expansión

Yesterday, the French group Compagnie de Phalsbourg managed to close financing, amounting to €157 million, for its first shopping centre in Spain: the Open Sky centre in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), according to Expansión.

The establishment will have a gross leasable area of 85,000 m2, will house 100 stores, 3,500 parking spaces and a large garden area with a central lake.

To obtain the necessary resources for its project, Compagnie de Phalsbourg has resorted to non-bank financing through a competitive process. Sources close to the operation maintain that a single fund has subscribed 100% of the financing. According to the same sources, it is a fund based in the City of London, specialising in the real estate sector.

“This process is a boost for Spain because it shows that international investors, in this case, French and British players, see potential in Spain”, say financial sources. The crisis in Cataluña has not affected the process in this case, whose negotiations started long before the tension escalated in that regard.

The French group expects that Open Sky will be inaugurated by the end of next year. In fact, the first earth movement work has now begun and the land that Compagnie acquired for €110 million from the Town Hall of Torrejón in 2015 is being prepared (…).

The company has already signed agreements with around twenty fashion labels, accessories brands and service providers, including with many high-profile names such as Adidas, Reebok, Decimas, OVS, Okaidi, Merkal, Kiwoko, Orchestra, RKS, Celio, Encuentro Moda and Druni, amongst others. Moreover, the shopping centre will have 11 Cinesa cinema screens with capacity for 1,200 people and it has already signed agreements with restaurant groups such as the Vips group, with its five brands (Vips, Fridays, Ginos, Wagamama and Starbucks); the Zena group (Fosters and Cañas y Tapas) and the Restalia group (100 Montaditos and La Sureña).

Once Open Sky is fully operational, it is expected to generate approximately 1,000 new jobs in the region.

The Spanish investment boutique Alantra has served as the sole advisor to the operation for the French group. In addition, Alantra has advised the firm on three other projects in Spain. Meanwhile, Clifford Chance and Uría have been responsible for providing legal advice (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Andrés Stumpf)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Témpore Properties Starts Out with a Portfolio of 1,383 Homes

28 November 2017 – Sareb

Témpore Properties, the Socimi constituted by Sareb, the ‘Company responsible for the Management of Assets Proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System’, has started its journey with a package of 1,554 assets, of which 1,383 are homes and the rest are associated assets (storerooms and garages). The total value of the transferred assets amounts to €175 million.

The portfolio transferred by Sareb is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Spain’s large capitals (80%); the remainder is located in geographical areas that have high demand in the rental market, such as the provinces of Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Málaga and Almería. The homes have an average size of 93 m2 and have two or three bedrooms.

The management of this portfolio has been assigned to Azora, which is going to be directly responsible for the work required to administer and market the assets. In parallel, Sareb is continuing to work with its advisors Renta 4 and Clifford Chance on Témpore’s stock market debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), which will take place at some point in the next few weeks, once all of the necessary procedures have been completed.

Diaz Saldaña, Head of the Socimi

The culmination of the asset transfer process coincides with the configuration of the management team of Témpore Properties, headed by the Director of Rentals at Sareb, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña.

Diaz Saldaña has extensive experience as a senior manager in the real estate and financial sectors, with a special focus on the international market. Between 1991 and 1997, he developed analysis services for the Institute of Economic Studies. Subsequently, Saldaña held different positions at BBVA between 1997 and 2008, where he rose to lead the bank’s subsidiaries in Benelux and Germany. Before joining Sareb, Saldaña led the international division at Metrovacesa during the toughest period of the real estate crisis.

Original story: Sareb

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus Wants To Buy Anida & A €4,000M Portfolio From BBVA

29 September 2017 – Expansión

BBVA is taking new steps to deconsolidate its real estate risk. The entity is holding exclusive negotiations with the US fund Cerberus to sell it a majority stake in its real estate manager, Anida.

Financial sources explain that the fund may also be interested in acquiring around €4,000 million in foreclosed assets and doubtful real estate loans from the bank.

BBVA’s real estate activity, which centres around Anida, comprises two branches. On the one hand, the manager is in charge of administration. On the other hand, it is responsible for the real estate assets, be they foreclosed properties or loans to property developers. BBVA’s gross exposure to property amounts to €20,190 million, according to the latest available data. The entity has a coverage level of 57%, which reduces its net risk in terms of the real estate sector to €8,760 million.

In a relevant fact sent to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), BBVA reported that it is holding conversations with Cerberus (…). “At this time, it is not possible to determine whether the conversations will end in an agreement or not, or what the terms and conditions of such an agreement, were it to be reached, might be”, said the bank.

Similar to Santander

According to sources, the intention of Cerberus is to acquire a majority stake in the real estate company, similar to the agreement that Santander reached with Blackstone to deconsolidate the real estate risk of Popular. Hours after Brussels authorised the purchase of until then the sixth largest Spanish bank by assets, Santander sold Blackstone a 51% stake in the company to offload its problem assets with a gross value of €30,000 million. That was the largest ever real estate operation in Spain.

If the negotiations with Cerberus prove fruitful, BBVA would follow the template established by Santander. Some sources indicate that Cerberus has decided to try its hardest to buy Anida after not making it past the first round in the bid for Popular’s toxic real estate. In fact, the same sources say that the CEO of Cerberus, John Snow, travelled to Madrid a few weeks ago to meet with BBVA’s President, Francisco González.

Negotiations

The negotiations, with Cerberus as the only interlocutor, are very advanced, say sources in the sector. It is expected that the sale of the majority stake in Anida and of property by BBVA could be completed within the next few weeks.

BBVA is being advised by the law firm Clifford Chance and by a team from the consultancy firm PwC. Meanwhile, Linklaters is advising the US fund, which has also hired JLL for the negotiations.

BBVA is one of a handful of banks that have retained full control over their real estate businesses. During the crisis, several entities sold their management companies to specialist funds to generate profits with which to strengthen their businesses and accelerate the divestment of problem assets. Only Kutxabank (to Lone Star) and Santander (with the transfer of Popular’s business to Blackstone) have managed to close block sales of their management arms and asset portfolios.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz & R. Sampedro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Appoints Azora To Manage Its First Socimi, Témpore Properties

21 September 2017 – El Confidencial

Sareb has chosen one of the largest experts in the management of rental housing in Spain to commandeer its first Socimi. The expert in question is Azora, an independent firm with almost 15 years experience and more than €3,000 million of assets under management. Azora’s key milestones include the creation and management of Hispania, one of the largest Socimis in Spain.

After organising a competitive process between several candidates, the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above), has chosen the management firm founded by Concha Osácar and Fernando Gumuzio to take the reins at Témpore Properties, the name that Sareb has given to its first Socimi. The appointment is still pending the final approvals.

Sareb’s new vehicle will own around 1,500 rental properties, worth almost €200 million. The entity wants to place the assets, which have been valuedby CBRE, on the market before the end of the year.

Having engaged Renta 4 as the registered advisor and Clifford Chance as legal counsel, the next major challenge for Sareb will be to convince the greatest possible number of investors about the virtues of the Socimi, given that, although its market debut will be made on the MAB – the Alternative Investment Market – Echegoyen’s aim is to sell the highest percentage of share capital possible.

In this way, Azora will play an important role, given that over the course of its history, it has managed more than €1,700 million from institutional investors through its five funds, as well as having a cover letter from Hispania, whose illustrious shareholders include none other than George Soros.

Nevertheless, in recent times, the management firm has been focusing on the divestment of the bulk of these vehicles, given that they are now reaching maturity.

In fact, this week, the firm closed the sale of Resa, the largest student hall of residence company in Continental Europe, which formed part of Lazora, a vehicle with which the manager started when it focused exclusively on rental homes.

Moreover, since the spring, the firm has been actively working on the liquidation of the fund Azora Europa 1 as well as of the Socimi Hispania, which is on the verge on selling its entire office portfolio to the insurance firm Swiss Life.

Azora is also behind the sale of 3,000 homes in the Community of Madrid to Goldman Sachs, which now comprise the company Encasa Cibeles, and of the purchase of four Consell Comarcal de Barcelonés developments from several Catalan town halls, assets that it has just debuted on the MAB through its Socimi Colón Viviendas.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Unblocks Sale Of Ciudad Financiera After AGC’s Mega-Offer

15 September 2017 – Voz Pópuli

The soap opera involving the sale of Santander’s Ciudad Financiera is closer than ever to being resolved. The Arab fund AGC Equity Partners, Santander and the majority of the creditors have reached an understanding to unblock the process, which has been stalled for three years, after the company that administers Santander’s global headquarters, Marme Inversiones 2007, filed for bankruptcy.

The key has been the size of the new offer presented in recent months by AGC, amounting to around €2,800 million, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. With this proposal, all of the creditors would receive the amounts due to them and there would even be some funds left over to share out amongst Marme’s original shareholders: the property magnate Glenn Maud and the fund Aabar Investments, controlled by IPIC, which owns Cepsa.

AGC has already informed the judge handling the bankruptcy – at Mercantile Court number 9 in Madrid – that the situation is now ready to be unblocked. But the magistrate has left everything hinging on the Provincial Court, which still has to resolve several prior appeals. Various sources consulted indicate that these resolutions could be resolved by the end of this year or the beginning of 2018. Then the formal auction of the company that owns the Ciudad Financiera could be launched, with AGC as the main favourite, assuming no last minute surprises.

Santander’s role

One of the keys behind sorting out the sale of the Ciudad Financiera is that Santander has withdrawn an appeal that threatened to perpetuate the bankruptcy process. In this way, the bank chaired by Ana Botín, advised by Clifford Chance, decided to submit a letter alleging that the Marme liquidation plan was not taking into accounts its right to sound out the market (for potential buyers).

In addition, Santander engaged Goldman Sachs to look for offers that would better fit with their interests. Paradoxically, the firm that is now best positioned to win – AGC – is the same one that blocked the bank’s appeal. According to legal sources, Santander pays an annual rent of around €110 million for the property and the rental contract runs until 2048, neither of which would vary under the new owner. But there are other clauses in the agreement that would be changed in favour of Santander.

The final stumbling block is the position of two of the players that invested in Marme Inversiones after it filed for bankruptcy: Aabar Investment, which purchased the shares of one of the original shareholders, the British businessman Derek Quinlan, and which would like to buy the Ciudad Financiera itself; and the Luxembourg company Edgeworth Capital, led by the controversial Iranian banker Robert Tchenguiz.

Sources close to the process think that it will be hard for their appeals to gain traction in the face of AGC’s willingness to repay all the creditors; something that no other investor has offered until now. The other recent offers amounted to between €2,400 million and €2,500 million.

Origin of the problem

Marme Inversiones 2007 filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after it was unable to pay its debts. The company was created in 2008 with very heavy financial burdens, at the worst time, shortly after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Marme paid €1,900 million for Santander’s headquarters in Boadilla del Monte.

Now the situation is just the opposite. The good times in the market mean that obtaining financing is cheaper than it has been for the last decade, something that AGC wants to take full advantage of to seal this complex operation.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

British Fund Intu Finalises Purchase Of Xanadú For c. €520M

10 March 2017 – Expansión

The British private equity fund Intu is finalising the completion of a record deal in the Spanish real estate market with the purchase of the Xanadú shopping centre (in Arroyomolinos, Madrid) from Ivanhoé Cambridge for around €520 million, according to market sources.

The purchase – which the fund has been negotiating in exclusivity since January – will represent the largest operation involving a shopping centre in the history of the Spanish market, whereby exceeding the €495 million that Deutsche Bank paid for Diagonal Mar (Barcelona) last August, the €451 million that Intu paid for Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and the €375 million that Klépierre paid for Plenilunio (Madrid).

CBRE and the law firm Clifford Chance have advised Intu during the operation, whilst Eastdil has advised Ivanhoé, which bought Xanadú from the Mills Corporation in 2006, along with two other shopping centres, one in Canada – Vaughan Mills (Ontario) and one in Scotland – Saint Enoch (Glasgow) – for a combined value of around €770 million.

The operation will be financed by Santander, Crédit Agricole, CaixaBank and BBVA with a loan to value (percentage value of the asset that is covered by the loan) of 40%.

In parallel, Intu is looking for a partner to whom to transfer 50% of the share capital in Madrid Xanadú 2003, the company that owns the shopping centre. Market sources point to the Canadian fund CPPIB as a possible ally. Both firms are already partners in two other Spanish shopping centres owned by Intu: Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and Parque Principado (Asturias).

One of the other candidates interested in acquiring the asset was TH Real Estate, but it was pipped at the post a few months ago by Intu, as revealed by Expansión on 31 January.

With this operation, Intu, which has plans to develop new shopping centres in Málaga, Valencia, Mallorca and Vigo, is strengthening its position in Spain and picking up one of the trophy shopping centres in Madrid to boot.

The shopping centre, constructed in 2003, has a total surface area of 153,695 m2 spread over two levels and 220 stores. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Bricor, Decathlon, Primark and Apple.

Xanadú Madrid receives almost 13 million visitors per year and generates sales of around €230 million.

The shopping centre houses an indoor ski area – the only one in Spain and the largest in Europe – covering around 18,000 m2, as well as 15 cinema screens, a mini-golf course, a mini theme park, themed restaurants and a bowling alley.

In addition, Ivanhoé signed an agreement with Parques Reunidos last summer to construct an aquarium in Madrid Xanadú. Both companies reached an agreement with Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom, to construct a theme park based on Nickelodeon characters in Xanadú.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and R. Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GreenOak Purchases Las Mercedes Business Park For €140M

24 June 2016 – Expansión

The US fund GreenOak Real Estate has purchased the Las Mercedes business park in Madrid from Standard Life Investments for around €140 million, according to sources close to the deal.

In 2004, Standard Life Investments invested around €150 million in the construction of the business park, located on the outskirts of Madrid next to the A-2 motorway. The business park, located on Calle Campezo 1, opposite Madrid Barajas airport, is just a few metres away from the Plenilunio shopping centre – measuring 70,000 sqm – owned by Klepierre.

Covering 78,500 sqm, the business complex comprises nine office buildings and a private garden. Constructed on a plot of land measuring four hectares, the complex includes a common area with two cafeterias, a restaurant, a supermarket, a courier service and a gym. The business park is served by public transport and a shuttle bus, which connects it with Madrid. In addition, the business park has parking spaces with capacity for 1,652 vehicles.

The Las Mercedes business park is currently occupied by tenants such as Altran, Applus, la Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Reguladora and Xerox. Clifford Chance, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Gleeds have advised the buyers, whilst Gomez-Acebo &Pombo and CBRE have advised the sellers.

GreenOak, which opened its office in Madrid in 2015, has been very active in Spain. Last year, it acquired the Sevilla Factory shopping centre and a building on the Madrilenian Calle Fuencarral. In addition, in 2014, it joined forces with Baupost and Lar to purchase seven properties located in Madrid, Málaga, Barcelona, Burgos and Alicante.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cinven Buys Tinsa From Advent International

7 April 2016 – El Mundo

The European private equity house Cinven has signed an agreement to purchase the appraisal company Tinsa from Advent International, which acquired the firm in 2010 for €100 million. The consideration to be paid this time around has not been disclosed. The appraisal company was put up for sale at the beginning of 2016 and since then experts have speculated that the company could be sold for up to €350 million.

Tinsa, created in 1985 and headquartered in Madrid, is the largest property valuation and real estate advisory services company in Spain and Latin America, and performs mortgage appraisals on all kinds of properties, including tertiary and residential assets.

Currently the appraisal company operates in more than 25 countries around the world, with a strong presence in Latin America and dedicated offices in Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Perú, México and Colombia.

Cinven highlights Tinsa’s in-house technology, which is at the forefront of the market and allows it to offer accurate and efficient valuation solutions to its clients, as well as complementary services, such as energy audits and the monitoring of property developments.

Tinsa has 580 employees and a network of around 2,000 appraisal experts. The company performs more than 300,000 appraisals per year around the world and has more than 100,000 clients, including more than 90% of Spain’s banks.

Cinven also highlights that Tinsa is integrated into the process of its main clients, the banks, and that it plays a key role in the risk assessment process for granting new mortgages. In addition, Cinven indicates that the current onerous regulatory context requires properties to be appraised before any new mortgages can be granted, and imposes periodic valuations of banks’ real estate portfolios. (…).

Moreover, Cinven will inherit Tinsa’s strong management team, led by its Chairman, Ignacio Martos, formerly the CEO of Opodo, the portal that used to be owed by Amadeus, and by its Finance Director, Juan Guerra. (…).

Tinsa represents Cinven’s sixteenth investment through its Fondo 5. Advisors to this operation have included Rothschild y Socios Financieros (financial advisors), Clifford Chance (Cinven’s legal advisor), Uría Menéndez (Advent’s legal advisor), Oliver Wyman (Advent’s commercial advisor), McKinsey (Cinven’s commercial advisor), KPMG (accountant), Deloitte (tax) and Garrigues (employment law).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake