Tag: Colony Capital

Bankinter’s Socimi Atom Buys Hotel Meliá Valencia for €42.3M

23 May 2019 – Levante EMV

Bankinter’s Socimi Atom has purchased the Hotel Meliá Valencia on Avenida Cortes Valencianas from the company Colony Capital for €42.3 million, according to sources close to the operation.

Colony Capital acquired the 117-metre tall property last year when it purchased the fund Continental Property Investments (CPI). In turn, Continental Property bought the building, which was operated under the Hilton brand originally, in January 2011.

Original story: Levante EMV (by Ramón Ferrando)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Neinver Sells a 55-Asset Logistics Portfolio to Blackstone for €300M

10 December 2018 – Europa Press

Neinver, a company specialising in the investment, construction and management of real estate assets, has sold a portfolio of industrial and logistics assets to the real estate fund managed by Blackstone, for approximately €300 million.

Specifically, the transaction, which represents the largest logistics operation of the year, includes 55 logistics assets and 162,000 m2 of land for industrial use, of which Neinver is the owner, co-owner and manager, according to a statement.

Of the total portfolio managed by Neinver, which spans more than half a million m2, 37 assets are owned by Colver, the joint venture that the Spanish company created together with Colony Capital at the end of 2014.

Over the last three years, the joint venture has almost tripled its volume and achieved occupancy rates of 98%, generating rental income of more than €11.5 million.

Neinver has specified that this transaction forms part of its growth strategy based on the rotation of assets and investment in new business opportunities in the retail and industrial and logistics sectors. Moreover, with this operation, it strengthens its position as an investor and manager of real estate assets.

The director of the Industrial and Logistics area at Neinver, Juan Carlos Ortega, has explained that the sale of the portfolio is a “strategic divestment” for the company, which culminates a process of several years of work where value has been created through the design of a portfolio of high-quality and versatile assets in strategic locations distributed across the main logistics axis of Spain.

In this way, the portfolio has national coverage, with a presence in 26 Spanish provinces, including Madrid, Barcelona, Vizcaya, Navarra, Málaga, Sevilla, Valencia and Zaragoza, amongst others.

Original story: Europa Press 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Negotiates the Purchase of 37 Logistics Centres from Neinver for €290M

22 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Blackstone is on a mission in the Spanish logistics sector. The US giant is finalising the purchase of 37 logistics centres that the Spanish group Neinver and the Californian fund Colony Capital own in the country, which span a total surface area of 261,000 m2, for €290 million.

In this way, Neinver, owned by the businessman José María Losantos, and Colony will put an end to an alliance that was created in 2015 to invest €200 million over the medium term in properties relating to the logistics sector in Spain, according to reports from Expansión.

For Blackstone, the operation represents a new boost to its investment strategy in Spain, where it already owns a portfolio worth more than €22 billion. The fund has managed to convert itself into the largest owner of real estate in the country with operations in the residential, hotel and logistics sectors.

In terms of this latest segment, the group already owns 1 million m2 of industrial space in Spain, through Logicor, in which it retains a 10% stake. In July, Blackstone purchased Lar’s logistics portfolio for €120 million, its first major industrial acquisition in the country.

Meanwhile, Neinver divides its activity between investment in land and logistics warehouses and the management of 19 outlets. The group carries out its activity in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Poland. Moreover, Colony Capital is a US company specialising in real estate operations with USD 44 billion in assets under management.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colony Capital Puts Meliá Valencia Hotel Up for Sale

10 August 2018

The hotel investment market is still at a fever pitch, driven by healthy tourism receipts in Spain. Taking advantage of the moment and the current lack of supply, the Colony Capital fund has decided to sell one of the largest hotels in Valencia, elEconomista confirmed with several sources in the sector.

The Meliá Palacio de Congresos Hotel, formerly managed by Hilton, is on the market for approximately 50 million euros, in an operation that is being advised by Savills Aguirre Newman.

The property, located at 52 Avenida Cortes Valencianas, has more than 300 rooms, a gym, restaurants and parking. Also, the four-star hotel has 24,000 square meters in area, consisting of two buildings with a 29-floor tower, a 21-room Convention Centre and can accommodate up to 875 people. The sale has aroused the interest of many investors, including family offices, socimis and institutional investors, including Axa Real Estate.

According to the same sources, the hotel’s management will remain with Meliá, which has been operating the asset since 2010 through a ten-year, renewable contract.

Growth in Spain

Colony took the asset over earlier this year as part of a much larger operation in which it took control of asset manager Continental Property Investments (CPI), previously owned by the Lebanese investor Boutros El-Khouri.

CPI, which owns properties in the United Kingdom and France, landed in Spain at the height of the crisis, taking advantage of the opportunity to acquire several hotels. The company invested a total of around 250 million euros in two years. In addition to the Meliá Valencia, it also acquired the Husa Princesa and Husa Moncloa, in Madrid, and Florida and Miramar, in Barcelona. These last two were acquired in a partnership with Joan Gaspart, the owner of Husa.

Original Story: eleconomista.es – Alba Brualla

Translation: Richard Turner

Meliá Finalises Sale & Leaseback of Palacio de Congresos Hotel in Valencia

20 July 2018 – Las Provincias

The tallest skyscraper in Valencia is on the verge of changing hands. The sale of Meliá’s Palacio de Congresos Hotel, located on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas, number 52, is being finalised for €50 million, according to sources speaking to Las Provincias. The operation is expected to be signed in September and several investors have expressed their interest in acquiring the former Hilton Hotel.

The owner of the iconic property, the fund Colony Capital, took just two months to put it on the market after acquiring it in February when it purchased the fund Continental Property Investments (CPI), the former owner of the hotel. According to the same sources, the candidates to acquire the building now include Socimis, institutional investors and family offices, such as the Valencian Zriser group, the firm owned by Pablo Serratosa. Another interested player is AXA Real Estate, the company that acquired the Hilton Hotel Diagonal Mar in Barcelona last year.

Despite the change of owner, the management of the hotel will continue to be entrusted to Meliá, which signed an extendable 10-year operating contract in 2011. It is a strategic asset for the hotel group, given its location next to the Palacio de Congresos, which makes it the best-positioned accommodation on the market for business people and guests of events organised in the Valencian enclave.

A yield of 5%

According to sources familiar with the operation, the asking price for the hotel was €45 million, which was the “minimum to make an offer”. Nevertheless, the market was pricing it at around 10% more, approximately €50 million and some even think that it will be sold more than that. “Socimis and institutional investors look for yields of 5% per year”, they reveal.

In addition, the sale price per room will range between €165,000 and €175,000. In terms of the price per overnight stay, hotels of this kind with an occupancy rate of 80% typically range between €90 and €95 per room. The expectation is that the former Hilton will cost around €100 per night in five years time.

The former Hilton is a 5-star hotel that opened its doors to the public in May 2007. It stands 117 m tall and has 29 storeys, with 269 rooms, 33 suites and two presidential suites. Moreover, it has a convention room and 18 meeting rooms. The building was constructed between 2002 and 2006 at a cost of €110 million, double the price at which the owners want to sell it for now. It was in 2010 when the owner company, the firm Hotel Palacio de Congresos SL, sold the property to CPI to avoid its definitive closure after that company filed for voluntary creditor bankruptcy.

Original story: Las Provincias (by Elísabeth Rodríguez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinver & Colony Buy 2 Logistics Warehouses For c. €9M

6 February 2017 – Expansión

The joint venture created by the Spanish real estate company Neinver and Colony Logistics – which is owned by severa investment vehicles that are managed by subsidiaries of Colony Capital – has strengthened its portfolio of logistics assets in Spain, with the purchase of two new warehouses in Barcelona and Pamplona.

Market sources have indicated that these two logistics warehouses, which have a combined constructed surface area of 15,000 m2, have been sold for around €9 million.

The warehouse in Pamplona is located in the Arazuri-Orcoyen industrial area, three kilometres from the city centre, and has a surface area of 10,000 m2. The asset, acquired from Corpfin, is leased to the logistics operator Logiters.

Meanwhile, the logistics warehouse in Barcelona has a surface area of 5,000 m2.

The real estate consultancy firm CBRE advised the vendor in both cases.

Following these two new acquisitions, the joint venture that Neinver and Colony created at the beginning of 2015, with the aim of investing €200 million, now has a portfolio comprising 39 logistics and industrial centres, covering a surface area of more than 276,500 m2.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Oaktree Enters Exclusive Negotiations On Project Gaudi For c.€500m

13 April 2015 – CoStar Finance

Oaktree Capital Management has entered exclusive negotiations with FMS Wertmanagement for the predominantly Spanish Project Gaudi commercial real estate loan portfolio for a price thought to equal just over €500m, CoStar News has learned.

Negotiations are ongoing and the Board of FMS Wertmanagement is still to approve the sale, but Colony Capital, the second finalist, is no longer in the running to acquire the bad bank’s prospective maiden European NPL.

Project Gaudi, named after the legendary Catalan architect, has an unpaid balance of €740m, and is expected to trade at around 68 cents in the euro.

Cerberus Capital Management and Orion Capital Managers made up the top four, as revealed by CoStar News at the turn of the New Year.

Project Gaudi loan portfolio, which is being sold by Cushman & Wakefield’s Corporate Finance team in London, is comprised of 18 loans with broadly an equal split of performing, sub-performing and non-performing loans.

Project Gaudi, comprised of 16 loans secured by Spanish assets and two loans secured by Portuguese commercial properties, includes:

  • two five-star hotels in Barcelona and Cascais;
  • five shopping centre and leisure centres;
  • four business parks in Madrid and Barcelona;
  • a portfolio of 17 self-storage assets; and
  • several residential and industrial development sites.

The marquee asset in Project Gaudi is the 483-bed Hotel Arts in Barcelona (pictured), managed by Ritz-Carlton.

A consortium comprised of Host Hotels & Resorts, Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and Jasmine Hotels Pte, an affiliate of Singapore sovereign wealth fund’s GIC Real Estate paid €417m in July 2006 for Hotel Arts, which at the time was the largest ever single-asset real estate transaction in Spain.

FMS Wertmanagement, founded in 2010 after the German government nationalised Hypo Real Estate, brought the Project Gaudi loan portfolio for sale in October.

The four second round finalists all placed bids above 60 cents in the euro, which reflects a price of €444m or above.

First round bidders included Davidson Kempner in a joint venture with Värde Partners, Blackstone, Deutsche Bank, Marathon Asset Management, Sankaty Advisors, BAML, Colony Capital, Starwood Capital, Apollo Global Management and Lone Star.

FMS Wertmanagement had as much as €13.4bn in remaining commercial real estate loans, as at the end of 2013, including €5.8bn of German loans, €1.8bn of US loans, €1.7bn worth of UK commercial real estate loans and €0.8bn and €0.6bn of loans secured by assets in France and Netherlands, respectively.

Spain has returned to economic growth in 2014 following seven difficult years of rising unemployment, salary deflation and depressed consumer spending.

But an increase in business activity has led to unemployment reducing and consumer confidence has reached its highest level since 2001 with improvements in disposable income and recovering house prices reinforcing this optimism.

All parties declined to comment.

Original story: CoStar Finance (by James Wallace)

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Orion & Colony Split Shares Up

23/06/2014 – Expansion

Colony Funds and Orion Capital have terminated the alliance they had through their joint venture tool Coral Partners created in order to invest in Colonial. They have halved the shares of the real estate and now each of them holds 3.67% of the stake.

 

Original article: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

Lloyds Sells Its Real Estate Loans Portfolio in Spain to Colony

Lloyds took a next step in the process of share abatement in order to transfer its loans portfolio of the property developer companies in Spain to the fund Colony Capital for 215 million Euros.

The transfer affects the credits Lloyds was granted before the crisis, for the construction of two office buildings and a shopping mall in Madrid and Murcia. (…).

Sources close to Colony Capital claim that the investment has been carried out with “a significant discount” on the loan nominal value. Althought the property owners are not in insolvency process, such risk could be driven in the future.

Colony Capital is already known in Spain, as a main creditor of Inmobilaria Colonial and an owner of the premises of Alcatel in Madrid. It is one of the investment companies buying assets at low price in Spain in hope of capitalizing them when the economy recovers.

Likewise, Lloyds keeps on closing the non-strategical businesses to focus on its banking business in the United Kingdom. In April, the company transfered its Spanish branches to Banco Sabadell in exchange for the bank´s shares worth 84 million Euros. Due to the operation, Lloyds´s portfolio on the Spanish market tapered down to 2.828 millions of pounds (3.390 million Euros), before the loans sale to Colony.

The operations in Spain are merely a part of restructuring project that António Horta-Osório undertook in Lloyds in 2011. Since then the entity has sold or depreciated assets for 130.000 million pounds strengthening its capital position by 10.000 million pounds. The Spanish Antonio Lorenzo who, together with Horta-Osório from Santander UK moved to Lloyds, is in charge of th group restructuring and has executed 70 sales operations. (…).

Only yesterday the entity sold a mortgage portfolio in Ireland to Apollo Global Management for 257 million pounds (305 million Euros). Last week the loans portfolio of  the property developer companies in Germany and Scandinavia was acquired by Cerberus, which paid 1.094 millions. Lloyds also broke ties with the fund manager Scottish Widows, the private banking company St James’s Place and its subsidaries in Australia and Japan.

The most costly transaction for the British entity is the sale of 630 offices in the UK. (…).

Source: Expansión