Tag: Cuatrecasas

Axiare Buys Cuatrecasas’ HQ In Madrid For €124M

13 December 2016 – Expansión

After a record third quarter in terms of real estate investment, the Socimis and funds in Spain are facing a frenetic pace of work as we head into the last few weeks of the year.

That is the case of Axiare Patrimonio. Yesterday, the real estate company controlled by Luis López de Herrera Oria closed its largest acquisition so far in 2016. The Socimi has invested €124 million to acquire the headquarters of the law firm Cuatrecasas in Madrid.

The property is a modern office building, which was completely refurbished in 2012. It has a gross leasable area of 15,094 m2 and 201 parking spaces. Constructed in 1982, the building used to house the headquarters of Mutua Madrileña until 2006 when it was sold for €120 million to Reig Capital, the holding company owned by the Andorran Reig family, the former owners of Banca Reig and the tobacco firm Puritos Reig.

The complete refurbishment was performed especially for Cuatrecasas, which, following the change of owner, will not change the terms of its 18-year rental contact, say sources at the law firm.

As a result of this operation, Axiare has increased the value of its asset portfolio to €1,230 million, having invested €275 million this year. 71% of the assets in its portfolio are offices, whilst commercial assets account for 11% and logistics assets for 18%.

“This is our third operation in just three weeks and is further proof that Axiare Patrimonio remains firmly committed to fulfilling its business plan. We are approaching the end of 2016 with a very good outlook”, said Luis López de Herrera Oria, CEO at the Socimi. Prior to this purchase of Cuatrecasas’ offices, Axiare’s most recent operation involved the acquisition of two logistics warehouses for €14 million on 2 December. Moreover, in the office segment, the Socimi bought McKinsey’s headquarters on 23 November for €42 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Emilio Cuatrecasa Launches Rural Hotel Chain In El Ampurdán

28 July 2016 – Expansión

Emilio Cuatrecasa has launched a proposal to make the most of the beautiful landscape in El Ampurdán and the Costa Brava.

Yesterday, the lawyer and businessman announced the launch of a new hotel chain, which will specialise in managing small high-end hotels located in the region of Baix Empordà, which groups together idyllic landscapes in the imaginary triangle bordered by the towns of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Girona and Torroella de Montgrí, in the central part of the Costa Brava.

Through his holding company Emesa Corporación, Cuatrecasas has just acquired Palau de Ullastret, a farmhouse with large arches rising above the medieval walls of this inland town, close to La Bisbal d’Empordà, famous for the archaeological remains of its Iberian settlement.

Emesa plans to invest €7 million – a figure that include the purchase price – in transforming this historical building into a luxury hotel, whose opening date is yet to be determined. The small palace, which will undergo an extensive restoration, is located on a 2,500 sqm estate, known locally as Can Romaguera.

The project represents the cornerstone of a much more ambitious initiative, which involves weaving a network of ten luxury hotels over the next three years, in this coastal region, dotted with hundreds of farmhouses and ancient buildings.

The new chain owned by Cuatrecasas does not have a name yet and will be forged through the purchase of new unique properties, as well as the integration of hotels already in operation that will be adapted to the philosophy of the project. “With this initiative, we are trying to professionalise hotel activity in El Ampurdán, which is currently very fragmented and in the hands of individuals”, explained Ferran Forrellad, CEO of Emesa.

According to the director, the project has been inspired by regions such as Tuscany in Italy, “where there is more organisation and, therefore, much greater international promotion and awareness of the region”.

The new chain will focus on offering rest and comfort to its clients with facilities and rooms equipped with the latest technology and with a modern design, but “without the interferences of a hotel service”. Thus, gastronomic, health and gym services will only be offered on-demand and will be subcontracted to specialist companies.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patron Capital Buys 43 Retail Outlets For €35M

4 February 2016 – Expansión

The British investment fund Patron Capital has purchased a batch of 43 retail outlets, mainly supermarkets, from Blackstone for €35 million.

The properties are located all over Spain, although the majority are found in the regions of Asturias and Castilla. 32 of the premises are supermarkets in urban areas, five are cash & carry establishments and six are retail premises located in prime areas of several Spanish cities.

The tenants of the properties include: the supermarket chain El Árbol, owned by the Día group; the fashion house Cortefiel; and the bank ING Direct.

As a result of this acquisition, Patron Capital has increased its commitment to the commercial segment, which now accounts for 50% of its portfolio. Residential assets and hotels make up the remainder, accounting for 20% and c. 30%, respectively. The operation has been advised by Garrigues, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira, Aguirre Newman, Deerns and CBRE.

Patron Capital is headquartered in London and operates in Spain from its office in Barcelona, led by Pedro Barceló. The Spanish office has a budget of €200 million to invest in 2016 not only in the commercial sector, but also in the office, residential and hotel segments.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar España Comes To The Rescue At Juan Bravo 3

2 February 2015 – Cinco Días

The largest luxury residential project in the neighbourhood of Salamanca had previously filed for bankruptcy.

The Spanish Socimi Lar has teamed up with the Luxembourg fund LVS II LUX XIII to re-launch the luxury housing project on Calle Juan Bravo, 3. After its acquisition of the developer’s shares , construction at Juan Bravo Plaza will commence within days.

On Friday, the real estate company reported to the CNMV that it has invested €120 million in the acquisition of this building and another one on Calle Claudio Coello. As a result of the deal, Juan Bravo Plaza will exit from its bankruptcy proceedings, in light of its commitment to pay all of its creditors. The developer Eurosazor will also emerge from its state of insolvency, according to the agency EFR.

Juan Bravo Plaza was led by the developer Eurosazor (owned by Rafael Ortiz) and owned by Fernando Fernández-Tapias and Paloma Mateo. The real estate project in the neighbourhood of Salamanca was destined to be a landmark development in the European luxury housing market, inspired by the British skyscraper One Hyde Park, in London.

Located on a plot of land on Calle Juan Bravo, on the corner with Calle Lagasca, the complex was to due to comprise 60 luxury homes (flats worth more than €2.5 million). The plans were developed during the “boom” years (2006) but were paralysed by the burst of the housing crisis.

The initial project included 19,400 square metres of constructible surface area, spread across two-, three- and four-bedroom flats.

It was being led by the prestigious architect Rafael de la Hoz and the best interior designers. To carry out the Juan Bravo Plaza project, better known as Juan Bravo 3, the real estate company spent €131 million in 2002 to acquire the two buildings that were located on the site: Juan Bravo B and Juan Bravo C.

In 2009, the initiative was resumed following the presentation of a special plan for the change of the use of the property, but it was paralysed again in mid-2012. Eurosazor has been advised through the process by Bazarra Abogados and Cuatrecasas, whilst Lar España has been advised by Freshfields.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Soros Hires Cuatrecasas Lawyers With an Eye to Entering FCC

24/06/2014 – Expansion

George Soros has singed a contract with lawyer office Cuatrecasas seeking local assistance at analyzing the purchase of Esther Koplowitz´s debt owed to BBVA and Bankia. Koplowitz controls the firm with a 50.1% stake through B-1998. The €1 billion indebtness shall be refinanced by August, otherwise the lenders will seize parts of the stake in virtue of guarantee execution.

The banks do not strive at dragging the businesswoman (and her family) to ruin as they are ready to transfer the debt to other, new investors. At the moment, the most relevant seems to be George Soros who disposes of the necessary funds to rescue the construction company.

In December, the billionaire bought 3.8% stake at FCC and by realizing another capital injection, he might even take control over the firm.

 

Original article: Expansión (by D. Badía & C. Morán)

Translation: AURA REE

Cuatrecasas joins Clifford´s team in order to valuate Sareb.

Cuatrecasas has joined the legal team of the group lead by Clifford Chance in order to analyze the properties of the bad bank (Sareb). This will be the biggest real estate valuation operation in Spain.

Two weeks ago, Sareb awarded the project to a consortium lead by Clifford Chance, also joined by the real estate company CB RIchard Ellis (now CBRE), the auditing company KPMG and the technological company IBM. The winning proposal also included five law firms: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, Pérez Llorca, Ramón y Cajal, Deloitte Abogados and Broseta.

In the tender, Sareb established that each consortium had to be led by a law firm. Clifford Chance competed with Cuatrecasas, Garrigues, Uría and Freshfield, who had also formed their teams in order to gain the valuation project.

Finally, Sareb chose the proposal lead by Clifford Chance, one of the most conciliatory ones as it included thirteen companies, as Gesvalt, Savills, Knight Frank and Cushman Wakefield were also a part of the team, coordinated by CB Richard Ellis.

Before the decision taken by Sareb was known, the law firm had already agreed with its team that it would invite its rivals to join the group if they won. As confirmed to Expansion, only Cuatrecasas has accepted the invitation.

Clifford´s proposal left the door open for new collaborators, even though it is the law firm who would be held responsible by Sareb if any of its partners did not comply with the agreement, as the bad bank prefers to have a sole conversational partner. Nevertheless, the decisions on who ends up being a member of the team and who doesn´t are taken in agreement by all law firms included in the original proposal.

Currently, around 300 lawyers work full time on the legal side of the valuation of around 190.000 properties included in Sareb´s portfolio, which needs to be finished by the end of June. The team lead by Clifford should hand in a first analysis of 1500 assets, which are around 40% of the total value of the portfolio of Sareb.

With such a tight timeframe, the entry of new members is a reality which cannot be dismissed by the team.

After the awarding, several law firms have volunteered to be a part of the team. Although new admissions are not dismissed, only the leaders of the competing teams have been invited based on their knowledge of the operation. Cuatrecasas was the legal firm that designed and  and advised in the constitution of Sareb, as well as in the transfer of assets, valued at more than 40.000 million Euros.

The total value of the portfolio of the bad bank could exceed 55.000 million Euros from the nationalized institutions, although the official figure will not be known until the valuation process concludes.

The problem is that all law firms are working against the clock in order to comply with the calendar established by Sareb in a context with great difficulties: the assets came from eight institutions and they are scattered all throughout Spain.

(…) Not all institutions have followed the same criteria when providing the information. All documents are not even digitalized. The great advantage of Clifford´s proposal is that the 14 participating firms cover the whole territory, the law firms and the valuation companies, which are the ones who will need to visit each property.

Source: Expansión