Tag: DIA

Día Engages PwC to Handle the Sale of 300 Supermarkets

22 February 2019 – Idealista

Día is looking for solutions to cushion the impact of its business plan, which forecasts the elimination of up to 2,100 jobs, by selling off its premises. The company has engaged PwC to look for a buyer or buyers for as many stores as possible of the 300 that it plans to close this year.

Día is going to present an Employment Regulation File to the company’s unions, which has already been announced will affect a maximum of 2,100 employees, all in Spain. To minimise the redundancies, the company wants to get rid of the property that it is hoarding in a large number of locations across the country and raise all of the funds that it can.

Most of the dismissals that Día is planning will be concentrated amongst staff in the stores that are going to be closed, in such a way that, to the extent that interested parties can be found to acquire those establishments, they will try to reach an agreement with them to absorb the workforce, or at least, some of it.

Día is whereby returning to PwC after entrusting the firm with a similar task to divest its cash & carry business, Max Descuento, for which it expects to receive almost €50 million.

The Big Four firm, which is making contact with industrial companies interested in acquiring this business, will propose acquiring the stores in batches. Día expects to have closed all of its divestments by the middle of this year.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ores Socimi Acquires 3 Commercial Assets for €19.7M

25 October 2018 – Idealista

Ores Socimi has circumvented some of the operations that it was studying and has leapt into action. The Socimi owned by Bankinter and the Portuguese real estate company Sonae Sierra has acquired three commercial assets, occupied by the supermarkets Mercadona and Día, and the home decor store Conforama, for €19.7 million. The purchases have been carried out in Madrid and Santander.

In Madrid, Ores has purchased an asset occupied by Mercadona, located in the town of Humanes, which has a retail surface area of 2,334 m2. That transaction was carried out for €4.1 million.

Ores has also purchased a supermarket in Getafe, which is leased to and operated by the company Día. That asset has a total surface area of 1,956 m2 and the amount of the operation was €3 million. In Santander, meanwhile, the company has invested €12.6 million in an asset operated by Conforama and with a surface area of 8,000 m2.

These acquisitions form part of a new period of purchases by Ores, which has set itself the objective of investing €30 million, as revealed by Idealista News.

In this way, Ores is continuing to grow its portfolio, which comprises 30 assets and has a combined market value of more than €328 million and a gross annual income of €19.4 million.

Ores is aimed at private banking clients. Although its portfolio of assets is small, for the time being, the Socimi made its debut on the stock market with the objective of investing €400 million in retail premises on high streets, as well as supermarkets, retail parks (up by 20,000 m2), bank branches and singular assets with long-lasting leases and solvent tenants.

Bankinter and Sonae Sierra launched their real estate vehicle in record time. On 15 December last year, the two groups constituted the company and, within just two months, they carried out the process to create the vehicle, raised sufficient capital to get it going and completed its stock market debut.

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Plans to Open 1,000 Gas Station Stores in Conjunction with Repsol

15 October 2018 – Real Estate Press

There are almost 11,500 gas stations in Spain, of which more than 8,500 have shops. El Corte Inglés was one of the first groups to operate in conjunction with oil companies and that group is now planning to open 1,000 new gas station stores together with Repsol.

Gas station stores typically have a wide range of opening hours, span an extensive network and are easy to stop at to make quick purchases. It was only a matter of time before distribution groups decided to team up with oil companies to manage their service station stores. Now the time has come for those formats to flourish.

The formula allows supermarket chains to grow rapidly without having to recruit staff or undertake significant investments. Meanwhile, the petrol companies benefit from offering more attractive service stations, with a more extensive range of products and a lower cost base by entrusting the management of their stores to specialists with a volume of purchases that generates significant savings.

Sales at gas station stores amounted to €580 million in 2017, although the potential of this format is much greater.

Forecast growth

El Corte Inglés was one of the first groups to operate agreements with petrol companies. Initially, it constituted the company Gespevesa together with Repsol in 1998, which they control (50%) and which owns 39 service stations. Last year, that entity recorded revenues of €39.2 million, down by 26% and earned profits of €3.8 million, up by 28%. Next, it joined forces with Cepsa to develop a refuelling discount strategy. And, now, it has committed to a major agreement with Repsol to create “the largest network of convenience stores in Spain” under the brand Supercor Stop & Go.

Carrefour has also changed its petrol partner over the years: it started working on this type of alliance with BP, but in 2013, it opted to join Cepsa to grow a new format, Carrefour Express Cepsa, which currently comprises 333 stores. One fact serves to explain the importance of this agreement for the French group, namely, that it is the format with the most stores in around twenty Spanish provinces, including Asturias, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Castellón, Lleida, Toledo, Valladolid and Zaragoza, amongst others.

Día is the other group that has heavily backed the format, with the launch of a pilot project together with BP in four of its gas stations in Madrid under the Shop brand. Previously, in 2015, Dia signed an agreement in collaboration with Disa (Shell) to supply the counters in five of its stores. BP has also worked with other partners. Between 2013 and 2016, Alcampo supplied products, including its own brand range, to stores in its gas stations. Moreover, BP has operated some regional alliances for years with other smaller supermarket chains to generate benefits through their loyalty cards (…).

Finally, Galp, the fifth largest petrol company in Spain, has not been averse to these agreements either; it has worked with GM Food, the former Miquel Group. Their partnership began in 2013, with 12 pilot stores operating under the Sar brand; it continued the alliance once that project had finished, with the Catalan group as the supplier of its stores; and now, the two firms have started another trial in eight locations under the format Suma Exprés.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Duro Felguera Sells 2 Madrid Office Buildings to Signal Capital

14 March 2018 – Property Funds World

Signal Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of two office buildings in Madrid from Duro Felguera. Optimus Global Investors acted as sole advisor instructed by the vendor.

The largest building is the corporate headquarters of Duro Felguera in Madrid, which is located at Via de los Poblados 7, in the consolidated Campo de las Naciones Business Park. The freestanding office building comprises an area of almost 14,000 sqm GLA, set over five floors, as well as two basements with 228 car parking spaces. Duro Felguera has entered into a new lease over part of this building.

The Campo de las Naciones office market is considered to be one of Madrid’s most established and attractive office markets outside the CBD, strategically located midway between the Barajas airport and the CBD and near Madrid’s exhibition centre. The building benefits from both high visibility from the main ring road (M-40) and large open plan floor layouts. It is also next to the Cristalia Business Park, comprising almost 100,000 sqm of office accommodation, a modern hotel and amenities such as a nursery and several restaurants.

The second property is a vacant office building located at Calle Jacinto Benavente 4 in Las Rozas, Madrid. That property comprises an area of 2,600 sqm GLA, set over three floors and with 133 car parking places. The property, next to Tripark, is located in the Las Rozas Business Park, a consolidated office area in the northwest of Madrid in which well-known multinationals such as HP, Bankia, Oracle, Día, Santander, Adidas, ING and Triodos, amongst others, are located. It has a high occupancy rate, is easily accessible by car from the main highways of Madrid (A-6, M-40 and M-50) and enjoys amenities such as restaurants, gyms, shopping centres (Las Rozas Village and Heron City) and leisure activities.

Kris Van Lancker, Managing Director at Optimus Global Investors, says: “This has been one of the most complex transactions in which Optimus has successfully advised. The difficulty lay in finding the fine balance between the financial and office space needs of Duro Felguera in the scope of its global refinancing program and the investment requirements of Signal Capital Partners. It allows Duro Felguera to divest its non-strategic assets and at the same time helps Signal meet its risk-adjusted return targets.”

Original story: Property Funds World

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Lidl Boosts its Real Estate Business with €300M Investment

27 December 2017 – El Economista

Lidl is strengthening its commitment to the real estate sector. The German supermarket chain is planning to invest around €300 million next year (2018) buying up land and stores on/in which to open new supermarkets. Contrary to what most of the distribution sector is doing (the majority of retailers are selling their properties and leasing stores instead so as to focus on their core retail businesses), the German giant is standing firm in its commitment to the real estate recovery in Spain and so will continue investing.

With a current network of 540 stores, the idea is to own the largest possible number of stores. The average sales area amounts to around 1,500 m2, and so Lidl is looking for spaces measuring between 4,000 m2 and 9,000 m2, to allow space for warehouses and parking.

“Although we haven’t set an exact figure yet, the idea is to maintain the same rate of store openings as this year (2017), which means that we would open between 30 and 40 establishments in 2018”, explain sources at the company. Lidl arrived in Spain in 1994 and closed 2016 with a turnover of more than €3.335 billion, which represented an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous year. The company has also consolidated its position as the fifth largest operator in the sector with a market share of 4.3%, behind only Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour and Eroski, according to the latest market research published by the consultancy firm Kantar Worldpanel.

Presence at real estate fairs

Loyal to its real estate strategy, Lidl has already attended the recent exhibitions of the Barcelona Meeting Point fair to search for business opportunities. Moreover, it has decided to diversify its store opening strategy and enter, for example, traditional food markets (‘mercados de abastos’) and shopping centres.

In the case of the first, the German company has committed to opening stores in Barcelona, in the Sant Antoni and Vall d’Hebrón markets, and in Madrid, in the Tetuán market, in a strategy similar to the one being carried out by Mercadona. In the case of shopping centres, it has already opened its first store in this type of space in Islazul, in Madrid. Moreover, as well as new stores, Lidl is also making very significant investments in improving and modernising its existing stores.

Original story: El Economista (by Javier Romera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amazon Launches Automated Lockers in Repsol, Día and Telepizza Stores

28 November 2017 – El País

Amazon is bringing its automated lockers to Spain. They are now located in more than 120 places across 30 Spanish cities, where customers may receive their packages in a simple and safe way, according to a statement issued by the e-commerce giant today (Tuesday).

The lockers are located at selected Repsol gas stations, Telepizza restaurants, Merlin and Unibail shopping centres, Día supermarkets and OhMyBox storage spaces. They are located in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Tarragona, Valencia, Granada, Murcia and 21 other cities.

This is a collection option for customers who do not want to have to be at home to receive deliveries. Amazon Lockers are automated lockers from where customers can collect their packages at their own convenience. Amazon’s customers can choose the Amazon Locker that fits with their daily schedule, be it at a gas station on the outskirts of town or at one of the shopping centres, pizza restaurants or supermarkets located in the city centre.

More than half of the pick-up points are located at Repsol gas stations, specifically, it has 70 sites across 21 provinces, according to the oil and gas company.

Barcode access

After buying on Amazon.es, customers are invited to select the Amazon Locker of their choice where they can collect their package at the time that best suits them. As soon as the package arrives at the locker, the customer receives an email notification with a unique code, as well as the address and opening hours of the locker that he/she has selected. Once at the pick-up point, customers can either enter the code manually or scan the barcode to access their packages.

Customers have three days to collect their packages before they are returned to Amazon. Some of the lockers are available for customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Our customers in 30 Spanish cities can now use Amazon Lockers. We are delighted that they can choose where and when they collect their orders”, said François Nuyts, Vice-President and Director General of Amazon.es and Amazon.it. “We are investing heavily in Spain to constantly improve the shopping experience for our customers and we are proud to offer Amazon Lockers as an alternative, as well as to work with our partner companies, such as Repsol, Telepizza, Unibail and Día, amongst many others, to offer a new service to our customers.

Original story: El País (by Ramón Muñoz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

South African Fund Vukile Acquires 9 Retail Assets For €198M

4 July 2017 – Expansión

A new institutional investor has arrived in Spain. And it comes from an unusual place for large investors in the Spanish real estate market: South Africa.

The South African real estate investment fund (REIT) Vukile Properties has completed its first operation in Spain by purchasing nine commercial assets located all over the country. The South African firm has disbursed €198 million for the properties, which have a combined surface area of 117,700 m2.

Of that amount, €193 million will be paid to the owner until now, the company Redevco Iberian Ventures, a joint venture created in 2015 by the groups Ares and Redevco to invest in the Iberian Peninsula.

Vukile has completed its purchase through the Spanish company Castellana Properties. This company, previously known as Vinemont Investments, changed its corporate structure last summer, to become a Socimi, after completing a capital increase of €12.6 million.

The first properties acquired by this Socimi form part of the portfolio that the Dutch company Redevco has been creating in the Iberian Peninsula over the last few years. The assets include five stores in the Parque Principado de Asturias complex and Parque Oeste, in Alcorcón (Madrid), spanning a surface area of 13,600 m2. The largest property is the Kinepolis complex, in Pulianas (Granada), measuring 25,900 m2 distributed over six stores.

97% of these retail spaces are leased to operators such as Mercadona, Día, Media Markt and fashion labels such as C&A and Kiabi.

For its first operation in Spain (and Europe), the South African REIT, which is listed on the Johannesburg and Namibia stock exchanges, has joined forces with the brothers Lee and Chad Morze, who it defines as “well-known and successful businessman living in Spain”. According to the commercial registry, Chad Morze is the administrator of Diversified Real Estate Asset Management, a company whose primary activity is the provision of tax, audit and accounting advice. Created at the end of 2015, the company has not filed any annual accounts yet. Lee Morze is also registered as an administrator of the same company.

Of the total amount disbursed (€198 million), Vukile has announced that it will contribute own funds amounting to €103 million, whilst the other almost €95 million will be obtained through a bank loan to Castellana Properties from the entities Santander, CaixaBank and Bankia, amongst others.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saint Croix Acquires Blanco Store On c/Goya For €15M

13 February 2017 – Eje Prime

Saint Croix, the Socimi owned by the Colomer family, has won the bid to acquire the Blanco store located on Calle Goya in Madrid. The company has spent €15 million on the premises, which several other investors, including Jesús Antúnez, also bid for. Antúnez came close to winning, but Saint Croix took the prize in the end.

The Socimi owned by the Colomer family (which also owns the real estate developer Pryconsa) has spent €15.25 million acquiring the property, which has a gross leasable area of 863 m2. In other words, it has paid a price equivalent to more than 17,600/m2. The company has also acquired two parking spaces as part of the operation.

Until now, the premises were owned by the real estate arm of the former owner of the Madrilenian chain Blanco (which specialises in fashion retail), namely, Inversiones Blasol. The company, whose administrator is Bernardo Blanco Moreno (son of the founder of the Blanco fashion chain) and which was constituted in 19991 with the corporate purpose of leasing real estate assets, filed for voluntary creditors’ bankruptcy in December 2014 in Commercial Court number 10 of Madrid. The company is now in the middle of negotiating its bankruptcy arrangement.

Inversiones Blasol has several other assets up for sale, including a store on Calle Pelai, 1 in Barcelona. That establishment has a commercial area of 200 m2. Jesús Antúnez also bid for those premises, and sources consulted by Eje Prime report that he offered €4 million.

According to the most recent results filed by the company, as at 30 September 2016, the Socimi had a portfolio comprising 209 assets, worth €339.26 million. They include retail premises, such as the Zara store on Conde de Peñalver (Madrid) and several supermarkets leased to Día; office buildings such as CLH’s headquarters on Calle Titán; and several four- and five-star hotels on Isla Canela (Huelva), managed by chains such as Iberostar, Meliá and Barceló.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Who’s Who Behind The MAB’s Largest Socimis?

6 February 2017 – Expansión

The majority of Spain’s Socimis are now listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB). They have a combined market capitalisation of €3,500 million and so account for 68.5% of the value of that market, which is aimed at small and medium-sized companies.

In total, 29 real estate companies form part of the MAB, which comprises 67 companies in total. Seventeen of those real estate companies debuted on the MAB last year (…).

The largest Socimis

With a market capitalisation of €819 million, GMP is the largest Socimi on the MAB, larger even than one of the four Socimis that trades on the main stock market, Lar España. GMP, which was founded in 1979 by the Montoro Alemán family, debuted on the MAB last July, after adopting the Socimi structure two years ago. The real estate company, which owns around twenty office buildings in the most high profile financial districts of Madrid, has the sovereign fund of Singapore GIC as one of its shareholders; GIC owns a 32.9% stake in GMP, which it controls through another MAB-listed company, Eurocervantes.

Moreover, GMP is not only the largest Socimi (on the MAB) by market capitalisation, it also holds the largest portfolio of assets, worth €1,800 million as at 30 June 2016.

Another important owner of office buildings is Zambal. This Socimi is the only one of the five largest Socimis on the MAB that is not managed by its owner. The firm Investment Business Beverage Fund, based in Luxembourg and owned by the French magnate Pierre Castel, has appointed Iba Capital to manage its real estate investments in Spain. Iba is led by Castel’s fellow countryman Thierry Julienne.

This Socimi is the landlord of a number of large companies, both home-grown and from overseas. It owns the Madrid headquarters of Vodafone, Enagás, Gas Natural, BMW, Unidad Editorial and Día, amongst other buildings. Its portfolio is worth more than €730 million and its market capitalisation amounts to €559 million.

Meanwhile, Uro Property was created by the creditors of the company Samo, which purchased around 1,130 bank branches leased to Banco Santander in 2007. Nowadays, after selling several batches, it owns 755 branches worth €1,585 million (as at 30 June 2016).

Its main shareholder is the firm Ziloti Holding, although Santander and CaixaBank also hold direct stakes in the company amounting to 22.79% and 14.5%, respectively.

Blackstone, the largest investment fund in the world, has also listed a Socimi on the MAB to manage some of its real estate assets in Spain. Specifically, it has placed the thousands of homes that it owns and rents out into Fidere, worth €317.5 million.

The fifth largest Socimi on the MAB by market capitalisation is Isc Fresh Water. This vehicle was created with more than 200 bank branches from Banco Sabadell purchased in April 2010 by the Mexican fund Fibra Uno, controlled by the investor Moisés El-Mann.

Nowadays, the Socimi owns 213 branches, worth around €374 million, and its main shareholders are the El-Mann family, with a 65% stake and Jacobo Bazbaz Sacal, with 14.85%.

Diversity on the MAB

Each one of the Socimis on the MAB has its own characteristics, ranging from Promorent, with its market capitalisation of €4 million to GMP (which is worth more than €800 million). Their performance on the stock market is also very different: five of them have recorded increases since the beginning of 2017; three have registered decreases; and the remaining 21 have not seen any changes in their share price since the start of the year. (…).

Outlook for 2017

The proliferation of Socimis on the stock market will continue this year, according to the experts, who believe that the economic context favours these companies. (…).

Nevertheless, analysts warn that their small size and lack of liquidity imply risks for investors, since it is possible that they will not be able to sell their shares when they want to, due to the very small volume of business. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz and Diana Esperanza)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Saint Croix Obtains €11.4M Loan From Banca March

23 January 2017 – Expansión

The listed company owned by the Colomer family, which also control the real estate company Pryconsa, has mortgaged one of its assets by way of guarantee for this loan, which has a maximum term of 14 years.

This long term loan from Banca March will allow the Socimi to continue with its business plans, which include managing properties worth more than €300 million.

Saint Croix is the vehicle through which the owners of Pryconsa, one of the few traditional real estate companies in the sector that survived the crisis, are managing their personal wealth.

At the end of September 2016, the Colomer’s Socimi owned a portfolio containing 209 assets, worth €339.26 million. They included retail premises, such as a Zara store on Conde de Peñalver (Madrid) and several supermarkets leased to Día; offices buildings such as the headquarters of CLH on Calle Titán; as well as a large portfolio of hotels, including five 4-star and 5-star hotels on Isla Canela (Huelva), managed by hotel chains such as Iberostar, Meliá and Barceló.

During the first nine months of 2016, Saint Croix earned €10.46 million, 18% less than during the same period a year earlier, after generating turnover of €13 million, down by 5% compared to the same period in 2015.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake