Aliseda Refinances Bank Debt To Lower Costs

15 December 2015 – Expansión

Loan / Popular, Bankia, Santander and Sabadell are leading a five-year syndicated loan to the real estate management company, amounting to €450 million.

Cheaper debt and new money to manage its needs over the next few years without any hardship. Resources are cheap at the moment, banks are willing to lend and companies are taking advantage of the environment to line their pockets and face up to the recovery. Few companies are letting the opportunity pass them by and Aliseda is not one of them.

The real estate services company, owned 51% by Värde Partners and Kennedy Wilson and 49% by Banco Popular, has just closed a five-year financing agreement that reflects all of the benefits of the new lending era in Spain. Eight banks have put €450 million on the table, in a syndicated loan that has two objectives.

The first is to refinance the €350 million debt that Aliseda took on when Popular sold the management of its real estate assets to two funds specialising in the subject. That financing agreement was signed at the end of 2013 and the interest that the firm paid on it was in line with market rates at the time. It is true that it wasn’t the worst time to be raising funds (the lows of the crisis and the credit freeze had already passed), but nor was it the best time.

Since then, Aliseda has been trying to refinance its loan (…). The financing granted in 2013 did not mature until 2018, but the company has decided to repay it early and replace it with a new lower-cost product. The result is a loan, due to mature in 2020, for which it will pay an interest rate of 350 basis points above Euribor, according to market sources, which represents a decrease with respect to its previous rate, given that the final cost will amount to approx. 3.5%.

New money

The second objective for the company, which manages loans granted to real estate developers and construction companies, as well as the assets foreclosed by Popular (its total portfolio amounts to €30,000 million) was to raise new funding. And it has achieved it.

And Aliseda is exceeding its objectives for asset sales this year; it had accumulated €1,588 million of divestments by the end of the third quarter. The goal for 2015 is to reach €2,000 million, although the company expects to exceed that threshold.

But Aliseda does not want to continue only with the management and sale of Popular’s assets; rather it is looking for new business lines and projects for the future. As such, it has decided to promote its own homes. And for that, it needed this additional funding.

Eight banks have provided the money. Naturally, Popular has led the loan and is the entity providing the most funding, although Bankia, Santander and Banco Sabadell have each signed a tranche amounting to more than 10% of the syndicated balance. BBVA is providing a very similar stake, along with Bankinter, whilst ING and Crédit Agricole are taking on smaller exposures.

Six of these banks were involved in the original financing agreement in 2013; only CaixaBank has left the original group; meanwhile, Bankia and ING have taken their place as new lenders.

Original story: Expansión (by Inés Abril)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Issues 5.5-Year Bonds Worth €1,250M

11 November 2015 – El Economista

Yesterday, BBVA completed the placement of mortgage bonds amounting to €1,250 million, with a five and a half year term, on which it will pay interest of 0.625%, the lowest coupon in the bank’s history for this kind of debt.

According to market sources, the strong demand from overseas investors allowed the bank to lower the price of the issue to 38 basis points above the midswap rate, the reference rate for this kind of issue.

The underwriting banks for the operation were BBVA itself, plus Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, HSBC and Natixis. The last time that BBVA carried out an operation of this kind was on 12 January 2015, when it also placed €1,250 million in mortgage bonds, although they had a 7-year term.

On that occasion, the entity paid interest of 0.75%, the lowest coupon on that kind of debt at that time, thanks to the fact that the operation attracted investors from all over the world, whose demand exceeded €2,500 million.

Following in the footsteps of CaixaBank

BBVA has launched this bond issue just one week after CaixaBank closed its own operation to issue 5-year mortgage bonds amounting to €1,000 million. Demand in that case almost doubled supply.

The price of that issue, which was closed on 4 November, amounted to 43 basis points above the midswap rate, and the bonds carry a coupon of 0.625%.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

S&P Assigns Investment Grade Rating (BBB-) To Colonial

13 May 2015 – El Mundo

Within the next few months, Colonial will launch its first bond issue amounting to more than €1,000 million.

The company is seeking to refinance some of its debt (€1,040 million, i.e. 40.5% of its total liabilities).

The company Colonial has obtained a ‘BBB-’ rating from Standard & Poors, making it the first Spanish real estate company to achieve an ‘investment grade’ rating. It intends to use (that rating) to debut on the capital markets in the coming months with a bond issue of more than €1,000 million.

Through this operation, the real estate company, in which the Villar Mir Group holds a stake, is seeking to refinance €1,040 million of debt, i.e. 40.5% of the company’s liabilities.

Specifically, it is seeking to take advantage of the conditions in the market to extend the maturity period (of its debt) and reduce its financing costs, according to market sources.

Colonial has engaged Morgan Stanley, BBVA, Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, Crédit Agricole, ING and JP Morgan to coordinate the operation.

The company will begin a ‘road show’ within the next few days in the main European markets, to analyse demand for the up-coming launch of what would also be the first bond issue by a Spanish real estate company.

Colonial will specify the amount and other terms and conditions of the operation once it has completed the so-called ‘demand evaluation’ phase, according to a communication made to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Phase of growth

The real estate company will therefore debut on the capital markets at the same time as it embarks on its new growth strategy, having completed its restructuring, refinancing and recapitalisation plan at the beginning of last year, through which it reduced its debt and opened up its share capital to new shareholders.

As part of the new phase, Colonial has expressed its interest in Realia and has also said that it would be willing to evaluate a possible purchase of Testa, the real estate subsidiary of Sacyr, in the event that the group decides to sell the company rather than list (some of) it on the stock exchange.

These corporate movements are taking place during the current period of recovery in the real estate sector in Spain, after several years of decreases – the recovery has attracted interest from international investors.

Colonial owns a portfolio of office buildings for rent in the prime business districts of Paris, Madrid and Barcelona, which together have (a surface area of) almost one million square metres. Through this debt restructuring program, the real estate company is seeking to ensure not only that its assets are ‘prime’, but also its liabilities.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vinci Park In Exclusive Negotiations To Buy Empark For €900M

23 April 2015 – Expansión

Exclusivity / The group controlled by Ardian will purchase the parking space market leader, which has debt of €500 million.

Yesterday, the French company Vinci Park (controlled by the fund Ardian, together with Credit Agricole and Vinci) announced that it had begun exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of Empark regarding the “potential purchase” of the market leading parking space company in Spain and Portugal, which is controlled by Portuguese shareholders. “We are still negotiating to arrive at a final agreement” say sources at Vinci Park. The company is committed to maintaining an investment grade rating.

A few days ago, Empark’s shareholders said that an agreement with Vinci was imminent for the sale of a controlling stake.

Financial troubles

Other investors have expressed interest in Empark, valued at around €900 million (including debt of €500 million), including the Spanish businessman Eugenio Hinojosa who, with the support of several financial institutions, including Santander, designed a purchase offer to compete against the bid made by the French group. Empark will have to explain the transaction to its bondholders in London.

Assips is Empark’s controlling shareholder, with a 50.3% stake – the vehicle is controlled by the Portuguese firm A. Silva & Silva, which is in turn controlled by the founding families of the company who participate in the management of the group.

The top executives at Empark, which manages 500,000 parking spaces in Spain, Portugal, UK and Turkey, are José Augusto Tavares (Chairman), Pedro Mendes (CEO) and Antonio Moura.

The remaining capital is divided amongst several investment funds managed by BES (22%) and Ahorro Corporación (8.2%). The Mello family holds a 2.6% stake. These shareholders will also sell (their stakes) to Vinci Park.

Other movements

The controlling shareholders commissioned JPMorgan and Caixa Banco de Investimento (CBI) to search for a buyer in 2014. One of the reasons for exiting the company (which they acquired from Ferrovial in 2008) has been the financial troubles of the Portuguese shareholders, which have been going through a complicated bankruptcy process and have had to deal with debt maturities in recent months.

Empark recorded sales of €180 million in 2013 and a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of €63.3 million. During the first three months of 2014, Empark recorded turnover of €42.8 million, down 0.6% (on the previous year) and a gross profit of €15.3 million, in line with 2013. Vinci Park, which has operated in Spain since 1994, manages 39 car parks in various cities across the country. The company also has a presence in a further thirteen countries and generates total revenues of €704 million.

The sale of Empark coincides with the decision by KKR, Torreal and ProA to sell 49% of Saba.

Original story: Expansión (by C.Morán and D.Badía)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa To Capitalise €730M To Reduce Its Debt

6 April 2015 – Expansión

Metrovacesa is continuing its debt reduction process. After generating income of €1,546 million from (the sale of) its 27% stake in Gecina last summer, the real estate company will propose a capital increase of almost €730 million at its next shareholders’ meeting.

The aim of the capital increase is to convert some of the group’s liabilities into shares, according to an announcement made by the real estate company regarding the agenda for its general shareholders’ meeting. At the meeting, which will take place on 28 April at its headquarters in Las Tablas (Madrid), the leaders of the real estate company will present the results for 2014. In 2013, the most recent year for which figures have been presented, Metrovacesa recorded losses of €349 million, i.e. 29% more than in the previous year.

In that year, the group’s financial debt exceeded €5,088 million, a liability that it has managed to reduce following the sale of its stake in the French real estate company Gecina. In June, Metrovacesa agreed the sale of its 26.7% stake in the French company to Norges Bank, Crédit Agricole, Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge for €1,546 million. These funds were mainly used to repay a syndicated loan amounting to €1,600 million.

The debt for equity exchange will be accompanied by a capital increase through a cash contribution, with preferential subscription rights. The objective is to allow the 4,000 smaller shareholders to maintain their minority stakes, if they so wish, without any dilution of their ownership.

The main shareholder of Metrovacesa is the Santander group. The financial entity holds 55.8% of the (real estate company’s) capital, after it acquired the 19% stake that Bankia held in December (2014). Santander paid €100 million in that transaction.

The bank, chaired by Ana Botín, first invested in Metrovacesa’s share capital in 2008, when the real estate company was unable to pay its debts to its then largest shareholder, Román Sanahuja. Other banks also participated in that transaction (and still hold stakes today), namely: BBVA, which holds a 18.31% stake; Sabadell, which holds a 13.04% stake; and Popular, which owns 12.64%.

In 2013, these entities approved the de-listing of the real estate company from the stock exchange and, since then, they have focused on restructuring the debt.

New directors

At the shareholders’ meeting, Metrovacesa will also propose the appointment of four new directors: Rodrigo Echenique, Vice-President and Executive Director of Santander; Abel Matutes, Chairman of the Matutues business group; Juan Ignacio Ruiz de Alda, Director at Santander; and Manuel Castro; Director of Global Risk Management at BBVA.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vinci Park Finalises Its Purchase Of Empark For €900m

23 February 2015 – Cinco Días

The Vinci Park group is finalising its acquisition of the Hispanic Portuguese car park company Empark, in a transaction worth around €900 million. As a result of the purchase, Vinci Park will become the market leader in car park management, in Europe at least.

According to sources familiar with the transaction, Empark’s fragmented shareholder structure has made the negotiations, which began in the middle of last year, more difficult. “Loose ends still need to be tied up, a deal is not imminent”, they said. However, other sources indicated that “practically 95% of the transaction is closed”. Empark’s main shareholders are the Portuguese groups Assip Consultoria e Serviços (50.3%); Es Concessions International Holding (22.21%); and the Espirito Santo Infraestructure Fund (8.27%). The Spanish entity Ahorro Corporación owns more than 8% of the capital, in which other minority shareholders also hold a stake. Ferrovial sold its concessionary subsidiary Cintra (now Empark) to the Portuguese groups and Ahorro Corporación for €451 million in 2009.

According to Empark’s 2013 accounts, the latest ones available at the Commercial Registry, the company manages 500,763 parking spaces in total in: Spain (387,494); Portugal (68,679); UK (37,554); Turkey (5,861); Andorra (825); and Poland (350). The entity employs 2,527 people.

Empark began 2013 with long-term debt of €503 million and short term debt of €50.7 million. The company refinanced its debt in December 2013 through a bond issue amounting to €385 million, which is due to be repaid in December 2019. Empark used this new debt to repay the syndicated bank debt it held with Banco Espiritu Santo de Investimento as the agent bank, which amounted to €392.7 million, including interest.

In 2013, Empark recorded losses of €11.9 million (losses of €9.2 million in 2012) and revenues of €177.8 million (€180.9 million a year earlier).

French fortitude

Vinci Park manages 1.8 million parking spaces in 14 countries. Its parent company, the Vinci Group, which also operates concession and construction businesses, employs 191,000 people and has an annual turnover of almost €40,000 million.

The French investment giant Ardian, formerly Axa Private Equity, and Crédit Agricole Assurances, acquired Vinci Park last July, with each one taking a 37.5% stake in the car park company’s share capital, in a transaction worth around €1,960 million. Vinci Concessions retained a 25% stake.

The Vinci Group recorded profits of €2,486 million in 2014, after its results were boosted by the sale of the majority of its car park business, according to reports by the French multinational on 6 February.

Last year, the company Ardian closed an investment fund amounting to €10,000 million. The entity is the primary shareholder of CLH in Spain with a 15% stake. In 2014, it acquired 65% of Túnels Barcelona Cadi’s share capital, which operates the Vallvidrera and Cadí Tunnels, from the Brazilian bank BTG Pactual for €146 million; Abertis, which partners Ardian in other projects in Spain and France, controls the remaining 35% of Cadí’s capital.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alberto Ortín Ramón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cajamar Places €750m 7-year Mortgage Bond Issue

16 January 2015 – Expansión

Cajamar Caja Rural has placed an issue of seven-year mortgage bonds amounting to €750 million, maturing on 26 January 2022, according to a statement released by the entity, which reveals that the orders received for the issue have exceeded €1,200 million.

The placement price of the issue – whose initial aim exceeded €500 million – has been set at 90 basis points above the mid-swap, to give a fixed annual coupon of 1.25% and a yield for the investor of 1.359%.

The high demand for this placement, at both a national and international level, indicates the support that institutional investors are showing for the financial activity of Spanish cooperative banks, led by the Cajamar Cooperative Group, according to reports by the bank.

The underwriters of this issue are BBVA, Crédit Agricole, Barclays and SOCGEN.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ex-Executives of Altamira & Sareb Buy Asentia

3/03/2014 – Cinco Días

Colonial transferred its real estate branch Asentia to consultant company Eneas, chaired by José Luis Contreras, an ex-executive of Altamira (Santander´s RE platform) with view to restructuring and maintaining the company´s liability.

Also, MainSpring, represented by César Goyache, ex-executive of Sareb and Alvarez & Marsal, has taken part in the transaction.

According to the sources with knowledge of the operation, Crédit Agricole and Colonial hold 20% of Asentia´s capital each.

At the extraordinary meeting in Barcelona in January, the managing board of Colonial agreed upon a €1.000 million capital enlargement, due to its €1.759 million debt expiring this year.

By now, Asentia has been put up for sale with debt equal to €1.428 million. (…).

 

Original article: Cinco Días (Alberto Ortín)

Translation: AURA REE