Tag: debt

Villar Mir Group Puts Inmobiliaria Espacio Up For Sale

18 September 2019 – El Confidencial

According to financial sources, the Villar Mir Group has put its land and property developer subsidiary Inmobiliaria Espacio up for sale. The objective is to raise funds to repay the group’s creditor, the Monaco-based fund Tyrus Capital, and it follows the divestment of two other non-real estate entities, Fertiberia and Ferratlántica, in August.

Savills Aguirre Newman has been engaged to coordinate the sale after valuing the entity’s land and plots at €256.88 million as at 31 December 2017. The assets may be sold as a set or piecemeal. Moreover, the company has tax credits worth between €100 million and €200 million, which is where the real value of Inmobiliaria Espacio lies.

According to the latest available data, the company reported an EBITDA of €1.61 million in 2017 and sales of €46.77 million, up by 23.2% YoY. Moreover, it has an excellent and sizeable portfolio of land for development in good locations, for which planning permission has been granted, and therefore an improvement in sales is forecast over the next few years.

Last year, Tyrus Capital lent the Villar Mir Group €360 million to refinance the debt that the traditional banks did not want to extend. The conditions of that loan are onerous – it has a two-year term (of which one year has already passed) and it carries an interest rate of between 10% and 12%. As such, the group wants to sell off its assets in an orderly fashion to repay and reduce its financing, and so time is of the essence.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translated by: Aura Ree

El Corte Inglés Closes Los Arcos & Bahía Sur Shopping Centres and Sells Them to Castellana Properties

27 May 2019 – Cinco Días

El Corte Inglés has reached an agreement with Castellana Properties to sell two shopping centres in Andalucía, specifically Los Arcos (11,000 m2) in Sevilla and Bahía Sur (12,000 m2) in Cádiz, for €36.8 million.

The deal will become effective on 30 September, on which date both the El Corte Inglés store in Bahía Sur and the Hipercor in Los Arcos will be closed. The department store group will use the funds to reduce its debt, which amounted to €3.7 billion at the end of the first half of 2018.

The operation does not form part of Project Green, the portfolio containing 95 non-strategic real estate assets that ECI has entrusted to PwC, and whose sale is still on-going. According to market sources, the only bid received so far for the entire portfolio has come from the US fund Apollo.

Meanwhile, the Socimi Castellana Properties, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), is controlled by the South African group Vukile, and has 17 assets in its portfolio including shopping centres, retail parks and offices spanning a combined leasable surface area of 317,106 m2, worth €916 million.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz & Javier García Ropero)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Sareb’s Losses Plummeted by 55% in 2018 to -€878M

28 March 2019 – Cinco Días

Sareb recorded losses of €878 million in 2018, which were 55% greater than those registered in the previous year. Moreover, the bad bank forecasts a similar result for this year.

Despite the disappointing results, Sareb ended 2018 with own funds of €2.6 billion, which represents a sufficient volume to not have to request any capital increase from its shareholders, which include most of Spain’s major banks and the FROB.

The President of the bad bank, Jaime Echegoyen, observed that his company is committed to the divestment of the problem assets that it acquired from the struggling banks during the crisis, and to maximise its returns. Sareb is competing against many of the banks, which are now selling large portfolios of real estate assets at significant discounts. Nevertheless, it is reluctant to match those discounts given that its cost of managing the assets is lower than the discounts being asked for.

Instead, Sareb has opted to transform the assets it owns by finishing suspended developments and building new homes on the land that it owns. Within the coming days, the company is expected to close an agreement with a property developer, which will build new assets on some of its land.

At the end of 2018, the bad bank recorded total revenues of €3.65 billion, down by 5% YoY. It sold 21,152 units during the year, up by 12% YoY. But, it continued to incur significant expenses – its financial costs alone amounted to €658 million, whilst its operating expenses amounted to €697 million, resulting in the aforementioned losses.

Since its creation in 2012, Sareb has now reduced its global portfolio by one third (€16.5 billion) and repaid 30% of the debt that it issued to pay for the assets in the first place (€15 billion).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Ángeles Gonzalo Alconada)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Doubles its Assets for Sale to €3bn & Invites Preliminary Offers by End of March

11 March 2019 – El Confidencial

El Corte Inglés has set a deadline of the end of March for interested parties to submit their preliminary bids for its real estate assets. Moreover, it has increased the perimeter of the portfolio from the initial value of between €1.5 billion and €2 billion to €3 billion.

ECI engaged PwC at the end of 2018 to help it define the perimeter, which comprises non-strategic assets, primarily land, offices, logistics platforms and stores.

The portfolio can be divided into three batches, based on on the liquidity of the assets: assets in good locations and with the possibility of being sold quickly (liquid) account for around one third of the perimeter; intermediate assets represent around 15% of the total; and just over half of the portfolio comprises assets that are not very liquid or that are located in complicated areas.

The aim of the sale is to use the funds raised to reduce the distribution group’s debt, which amounted to €3.8 billion at the end of 2017, equivalent to around four times its EBITDA of c. €1 billion.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga & Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Intu Considers Selling its 4 Shopping Centres in Spain to Pay Off Debt

6 March 2019 – Expansión

The British retail giant, Intu Properties, is considering putting up for sale its real estate assets in Spain in order to pay off some of its debt. The company’s stock market value has plummeted to €2 billion in recent months, and its debt amounts to more than €5 billion, following two unsuccessful takeover bids for the company last year.

The firm has reportedly received expressions of interest for its Spanish portfolio, which is worth €1 billion in total, from several large international investors. The assets in question are Xanadú (Madrid), Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), Parque Principado (Asturias) and a mega-project currently under construction in Málaga.

No formal sales process has been initiated yet but a number of unsolicited offers have been received. Nevertheless, legal sources state that the firm would have to offer the right of first refusal to its shareholder partners in each case, namely CPPIB in the case of Puerto Venecia and Parque Principado, and Nuveen (previously TH Real Estate) in the case of Xanadú, before opening any sales process to the wider market.

Other potential suitors include Castellana Properties (the firm backed by the South African investor Vukile) and the Slovenian group J&T.

Original story: Expansión (by Roberto Casado & Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Considers Creating a Socimi to List its Real Estate Assets on the Stock Market

15 February 2019 – Modaes.es

El Corte Inglés is looking for solutions for its portfolio of real estate assets. The Qatari sheikh Hamad Al Thani, the third largest shareholder in the Madrilenian department store group, has proposed the creation of a Socimi to manage the rental of its assets.

The plan proposed by Al Thani, who entered the company’s share capital last summer, involves creating a company in which El Corte Inglés would own a 51% stake. The remaining 49% of the shares would be listed on the stock market.

The Qatari investor already proposed this solution to the previous President of the group, Dimas Gimeno, but it was not successful then, according to El Economista. For the time being, the Board of Directors of El Corte Inglés has not received a formal petition regarding the plan.

The real estate portfolio of El Corte Inglés is worth €17.1 billion, according to a report from Tinsa. The department stores and hypermarkets are worth €15.0 billion, whilst the warehouses, offices and mixed-use buildings are worth €1.1 billion. Finally, the high street establishments are valued at €1 billion.

It is estimated that, in the event that the operation proposed by the sheikh goes ahead, the valuation of the assets could amount to half their current value, around €8.2 billion, according to Tinsa.

In parallel, the group is continuing to work on the sale of 130 real estate assets worth €2 billion in conjunction with the consultancy firm PwC. The property that El Corte Inglés wants to divest now comprises land, offices and buildings defined as non-strategic. Those assets also include some logistics centres.

The objective of these divestments is to reduce the group’s debt so that it can obtain a level of solvency that will allow it to raise financing in the capital markets at a lower price. In this sense, Núñez de la Rosa, the President of the group, has committed to reducing the group’s liabilities by €1 billion in twelve months.

Currently, the real estate portfolio of El Corte Inglés comprises 94 shopping centres, which account for 87% of the total value of the company’s assets. Two of those properties are valued at more than €500 million each, and another two are worth between €400 million and €500 million each.

The department store group recorded EBITDA of €335 million during the first half of 2018, up by 4.4% YoY. Between January and August, the company recorded turnover of €7.6 billion, up by 0.4% YoY.

Original story: Modaes.es

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Matches the Reuben Brothers’ Bid to Acquire the Ciudad Financiera

13 February 2019 – Voz Pópuli

Santander has matched the bid presented by the Reuben brothers for the Ciudad Financiera, in a new attempt to neutralise the offensive by the British investors to acquire its headquarters in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid).

On Tuesday, the bank chaired by Ana Botín presented a preferential acquisition right against the bankruptcy of Marme – the previous owner of the Ciudad Financiera –in the commercial court of Madrid, having set aside €20 million to be able to carry out the acquisition, according to sources familiar with the process. The operation is valued at around €3 billion.

Spain’s largest bank considers that it has the option of resorting to a preferential acquisition right, established in the lease contract for the Ciudad Financiera, signed on 30 December 2008 between Marme and Santander Global Facilities.

Bankruptcy process

Nevertheless, during the bankruptcy process that has resulted in the sale of the Ciudad Financiera, the administration appointed by the judge warned that the aforementioned right could not be exercised in order to “not obstruct the liquidation of the assets any further”.

Judge María Teresa Vázquez Pizarro, from Commercial Court number 9 in Madrid, said that the purpose pursued with the transfer of the Ciudad Financiera determines “that the lessee’s right of preferential acquisition cannot be accepted, given that the interest in the continuity of the business activity prevails over any rights recognised to third parties”.

The deadline for Santander to exercise its preferential acquisition right expires in the middle of this month (…).

Last November, the bankruptcy administration announced that the Reuben brothers had submitted the highest bid for the Ciudad Financiera, exceeding even the offer presented by Santander, a decision ratified this year by the court.

Santander warned that the offer from the British investors – one of the top 100 wealthiest families in the world – should not be accepted, highlighting the corporate network that they had set up for the operation, which includes several companies registered in tax havens.

Moreover, the Spanish bank has agreed the purchase with the main creditor banks of Marme – Caixabank, ING, Natwest Markets (previously The Royal Bank of Scotland), Bayerische Landesbank, and HSH Nordbank- of their debt. Through that, it has managed to obtain the support of those entities for its intentions and they have sent letters to the mercantile court defending the purchase of the Ciudad Financiera by Santander.

The breach of the preferential acquisition right by Marme carries a fine of €500 million, and the retraction of the sale to a third party, according to the terms of the contract signed by Marme and Santander, say the sources consulted.

The same sources indicate that this fine could be supplemented by another penalty amounting to €750 million if the suitability test is not fulfilled; in total, a fine amounting to €1.25 billion that Santander hopes will serve to ensure that the Reuben brothers reconsider their strategy

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alberto Ortín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urbas’s Share Price Rallies Following the Publication of its 5-Year Strategic Plan

8 January 2019 – Idealista

Few events are as long-awaited by investors and analysts as the presentation of the strategic plan of a listed company. Above all, when that company has had a difficult year on the stock market, such as the case of Urbas. The real estate company, a classic amongst the ‘small cap’ or companies with a small market capitalisation in the Spanish market, is leading the first stock market rally of 2019 in the sector after losing almost 75% of its value in 2018.

During the first week of the year, Urbas’s share price has recorded a large rise of 30%. In reality, the reaction began during the final week of last year, when the group revealed the broad strokes of its strategy for the period 2019-2024. Its plan pivots around a reduction in the level of debt, generating value from its assets and the payment of a dividend from 2022.

The market has picked up on the company’s message, which with a land portfolio of almost 18 million m2, also wants to provide a new boost to its property developer business. But its number one objective is to reorganise its debt balance, which amounted to €194 million at the end of the third quarter, up by 3.7% compared to the same period a year earlier. The figure contrasts with the just over €16 million that the company is currently worth on the stock market.

The objective is to reduce the debt figure to €86 million. To achieve that, Urbas faces the challenge of moving forward with the dual negotiations that it is holding on the one hand with its creditor banks and on the other hand with Sareb to refinance its indebtedness to the necessary levels to allow it to handle new investments.

Therefore, the group’s plans are aggressive, as shown by the fact that Urbas wants to finish the first year of its new business plan with revenues of more than €20 million and a net profit of more than €14 million. By the end of the period, in 2024, the forecasts skyrocket. But, today, the reality of the group is very different. Until 30 September, Urbas lost €5 million due to the effect of the financial interest adjustment made and its revenues slightly exceeded €2 million.

In any case, the sharp rise in Urbas’s share price so far this year should be considered with the utmost caution. It is a very small security with very limited liquidity, which means that its movements may be brusque and fast, both up and down. In recent years, it has recorded large fluctuations. With the sole exception of 2017, the share price has always moved by at least 33% in each of the last nine years (…).

Original story: Idealista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia Completes its €149M Capital Increase

2 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Realia has completed its capital increase. The real estate firm owned by the Mexican magnate Carlos Slim has completed its €149 million capital increase with a final injection of €42.1 million, according to a statement filed by the company with Spain’s National Securities and Market Commission (CNMV).

In its latest expansion phase, the company has issued 175.4 million new shares in total, for a nominal value of €0.24 and an issue premium of €0.61 per share. The company’s share capital has thereby been consolidated at €197 million, divided into 820 million shares.

Since Slim took control in 2015, Realia has undertaken three capital increases in total. The latest is the operation closed today, which was approved in November to try to decrease the company’s debt, which amounts to €672 million, and to provide a financial boost to its real estate businesses.

Slim controls 70.76% of Realia’s capital, 33% in a direct way and 36.98% through the construction group FCC, which is also led by the Mexican businessman. The real estate company also has an asset portfolio spanning approximately half a million square metres, which includes one of the Kio Towers in Madrid.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Obtains a c. €2bn Mega-Loan for Testa

19 December 2018 – Expansión

The Socimi Testa held an extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting on Tuesday, where it reduced the number of members of its Board of Directors from 11 to 5. The new governing body includes three people proceeding from the new majority shareholder, the investor group Blackstone.

Testa Residencial is going to sign a mega-loan amounting to €1.943 billion, which it had already agreed in principle after the US fund Blackstone takes control of the rental home Socimi with the purchase of 80.6% of its share capital within the next few days.

The loan, equivalent to the amount that the purchase of the firm has cost the fund (around €1.52 billion) along with the debt held by the Socimi, has been agreed with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Société Générale and Santander itself, Blackstone’s partner in Testa with 18% of its share capital.

This bank financing was agreed during the first meeting of Testa’s new Board of Directors following the restructuring of the management body conducted hours before, at the General Shareholders’ Meeting, when entry was granted to Blackstone.

By virtue of this restructuring, Testa’s Board has been reduced to five members, from the previous number of eleven. The fund has appointed three representatives to the Board, one of which, Diego San José, will also be the President of the Socimi, a role held until now by Ignacio Moreno.

The other two chairs at the table will continue to be occupied by the current CEO, Wolfgang Beck, and the director Miguel Oñate. In this way, the Board seeks to ensure continuity in the management of the real estate firm and to continue benefitting from Oñate’s experience and knowledge.

New strategy

Despite this continuity in management, at the first meeting of Testa’s Board, with Blackstone in the driving seat, a resolution was taken to approve a new strategy for the company, which had been planning to invest €550 million in the purchase of new rental homes to add to its existing portfolio of 10,700 flats.

The new strategy involves “analysing the eventual purchase of new homes depending on the circumstances at play in each case”. Moreover, Blackstone has raised Testa’s current leverage limit, situated at 35% of its asset value, and has reduced the dividend payment to the “legal minimum”.

In terms of the super-loan, it is being guaranteed by the assets of the Socimi itself, worth €2.3 billion in May when it was considering making its debut on the main stock market, and which will be signed with a two-year term, with the possibility of three annual extensions.

Dividend

Before changing the dividend policy, the Board also agreed to distribute a payment to the shareholders leaving the Socimi as well as to the new shareholders.

Specifically, it is going to pay €7.612 per share to the shareholders that leave the company after selling their stakes to Blackstone, in other words, to BBVA, Acciona and Merlin and to Santander for the proportion of shares that it has also sold.

Moreover, Testa will pay €0.035 per share to those players that will be its shareholders once the sale and purchase agreement has been signed within the next few days, in other words, to Blackstone and Santander, as well as to a group of minority shareholders who own 0.5%.

With the acquisition of this Socimi, Blackstone is strengthening its position as the largest owner of rental homes in Spain, with around 24,000 homes through its various firms and Socimis. Moreover, it is consolidating its position as one of the largest real estate owners in the country, with an asset portfolio worth more than €20 billion.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake