AliExpress Intent on Acquiring Land to Build a Logistics Platform in Seville

5 December 2019 – AliExpress, the international subsidiary of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is looking to enter the fray in Europe by acquiring land for a major logistics centre in Spain. Just a year ago, the firm partnered with El Corte Inglés to open its first brick-and-mortar store on the continent, in Madrid. Now AliExpress, whose second-largest overseas market is Spain, is looking to develop a new logistics centre in the metropolitan area of ​​Seville.

The firm is following in the footsteps of its principal competitor, the US behemoth Amazon. AliExpress is now looking to build a 120,000-m2 logistics platform in the Megapark Business Estate, where its rival has a 200,000-m2 facility.

AliExpress’s immediate needs include an approximately 60,000-m2 warehouse, with the possibility of further expansion. Megapark benefits from easy access to rail, road and maritime transport links.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Carlos Pizá de Silva

Photo: Reuters

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Retailing Giant Opts to Sell Real Estate Assets Through El Corte Inglés Real Estate

8 October 2019 While the Spanish company El Corte Inglés is one of the biggest retailers in the world, it is also one of the large owners of real estate in Spain.  The firm has assets valued at more than €17 billion. The retailer has given up on a plan, called Operation Green, that the consultancy PwC had designed for the portfolio. Instead, it is now planning on channelling the assets through a new real estate subsidiary, El Corte Inglés Real Estate.  

Original Story: El Confidencial – Ruth Ugalde

Photo: EFE

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Seven New Socimis Start Trading on Spain’s MAB in First Seven Months of 2019

26 August 2019

In the year to date, seven new companies, with a total capitalisation of 799.6 million euros, have started trading on Spain’s Alternative Stock Market (MAB), a testament to the pace of activity in the local real estate market.

Just in January, three companies made the leap to the MAB. Almagro Capital stared trading at 1.08 euros per share, while a few days later, Park Rose Iberoamericana began trading at 1.15 euros per share, valuing the Catalan socimi at 10.8 million euros. Urban View, a socimi which invests in rental flats, began trading at 7.2 euros per share, valuing the company at 38 million euros.

The month of July also saw important new IPOs. Trivium Real Estate starting trading with a market capitalisation of 255 million euros. One day later, Millenium Hotels Real Estate I began trading with a capitalisation of €262.5 million.  The company, which focuses on the acquisition of 4 to 5-star hotels, has two functioning hotels and three under development, with a total of about 640 rooms.

A few days later, Inbest began trading on the market through four different socimis, with a total market capitalisation of €84.7 million. One of the socimis has a portfolio of four commercial stores, all of them rented to El Corte Inglés. Another has a portfolio that includes the commercial gallery at the bottom of the Edifício España in Madrid.

Original Story: Eje Prime – Marta Casado Pla

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Inbest Debuts on MAB Valued at €83 Million

10 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Inbest, a socimi which focuses its investments on major retail store locations, debuted on Spain’s alternative stock market (MAB) valued at 83 million euros. The socimi owns three El Corte Inglés commercial premises and the commercial gallery at Madrid’s Edificio España.

The company, which was founded by Corpfin Capital and currently chaired by Javier Basagoiti, is structured in four investment vehicles that have a total investment capacity of 278 million euros.

Original Story: Eje Prime

 

Inbest to Invest Up to €130 Million Over the Next 18 Months

10 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Inbest, the commercial real estate socimi founded by Corpfin Capital, debuted on Spain’s MAB stock market this week, just ten months after its incorporation. The socimi has already had an impact on the market, focusing on high-street retail premises.

The firm has disbursed €378 million of its €400-million investment capacity, mainly through its acquisition of three El Corte Inglés stores and the commercial gallery in Madrid’s Edificio España.

Original Story: Cinco Dias – Javier García Ropero

Inbest to Debut on MAB on July 9

5 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Inbest Prime Inmuebles, the socimi which owns commercial premises leased to El Corte Inglés and the retail gallery in the Madrid’s Edificio España, will debut on Spain’s Alternative Stock Market (MAB) next Tuesday, valued at 83 million euros. The firm, which is controlled by Corpfin Capital, consists of a holding company which controls subsidiary socimis.

The first, Assets I, has a portfolio of four retail stores, all leased to El Corte Inglés, and an office building. The assets, which at valued at €189.6 million, are located in Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and Las Palmas.

The second, Assets II, was recently created but already controls a 15,000-m2 retail gallery in the Edificio España in Madrid. Inbest agreed to pay 160 million euros for the asset in January.

Original Story: Europa Press

Photo: EFE / J.J. GUILLÉN

 

El Corte Inglés Sells Barcelona’s Francesc Macià for More Than €150 Million

4 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

El Corte Inglés sold the Francesc Macià in Barcelona to a private investor for more than 150 million euros, according to an article in Expansion. The group will remain on the premises until December 2020, after having signed a lease with the new owner. El Corte Inglés gained control of the six-floor building, located at Avinguda Diagonal 471, upon its acquisition of Galerias Preciados.

The sale is in line with the retail group strategic divestment plan continues with its process of divestment of non-strategic assets. El Corte Inglés has sold a total of 900 million euros in real estate assets since 2013.

The retail group is also currently in the process of selling a real estate portfolio worth approximately €1.5 billion, including eleven stores and three office buildings, including its headquarters in Hermosilla.

Original Story: Expansion – Rocío Ruiz

Photo: Elena Ramon – Expansion

 

Operations by Socimis on MAB Rise by 21%

3 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Operations conducted by firms listed on the MAB rose by 21% to €150 million in the first half of 2019. Tomás Olivo’s General Galerías Comerciales posted the largest amount, investing a total of 67.7 million euros in a series of assets, including €42 million in the Centro Comercial Las Terrazas. Next came Atom’s acquisition of the Hotel Meliá de Valencia for 42.3 million euros, the largest transaction in the second quarter of the year.

Castellana Properties, in turn, acquired El Corte Inglés stores in Bahía Sur, Cádiz, and Los Arcos, Sevilla, for 36.8 million euros. Veracruz Properties Socimi has invested 18 million euros in the purchase of two office buildings on Calle Botiguers, in Paterna, Valencia. The buildings have a total area of ​​26,150 square meters and have 86 offices, 17 shops and 312 parking spaces.

Original Story: EjePrime – Marta Casado Pla

 

Inbest to Make its MAB Debut with a Prime Retail Portfolio

21 June 2019 – Expansión

The Spanish firm Corpfin Capital is finalising the stock market debut of its investment vehicle Inbest, which it created last year with the aim of investing around €400 million in prime retail assets.

Inbest has already starred in some of the most high profile operations in the sector, including the purchase of the commercial space in Edificio España for €160 million and the acquisition of 3 buildings located on Gran Vía 20, in Bilbao; Princesa 41, in Madrid; and Calle Colón in Valencia, for €184 million.

The firm’s MAB debut is scheduled to take place during the first half of July, most likely on 9 July, through four of the five Socimis that it has created with the assets acquired.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

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