Apollo Submits an Offer for El Corte Inglés’s Entire Real Estate Portfolio

23 May 2019 – Eje Prime

According to financial sources, in April, the fund Apollo Global Management submitted a bid for the whole real estate portfolio that El Corte Inglés has had on the market since the beginning of the year. However, the offer did not convince the management team of the department stores.

Since then, the ECI group has opened up the possibility of allowing interested parties to bid for part of the portfolio so as to maximise the value of the properties. However, the risk with that option is that some properties will end up being left unsold.

With the deadline for bids closing today, nothing is being ruled out. In fact, Apollo could still win if it was willing to increase its offer.

The portfolio contains 95 assets and includes shopping centres, offices and other types of assets such as parking lots, land and homes.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Inbest Prepares New Investment Vehicle for Retail Parks & Finalises MAB-Debut of its Socimis

15 May 2019 – Eje Prime

Corpfin Capital Real Estate is planning to launch a vehicle to invest up to €60 million in retail parks. Meanwhile, it is working towards the debut of its four Socimis on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in June.

To date, the company has been channelling its investment in retail parks through a vehicle it created in 2015, Corpfin Capital Retail Parks, with an investment volume of €44 million. But now it is going to create a second vehicle, Inbest Parks II, which will have €60 million to spend, with the aim of providing continuity and attracting new investors.

In parallel, the company is focused on the MAB debut of its four Socimis, which are due to list for the first time on 27 June. In total, the companies have an investment volume of €400 million, comprising own funds and debt. Most of that figure (€378 million) has already been invested in the purchase of three buildings from El Corte Inglés and the acquisition of the commercial premises in Edificio España.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Marta Casado Pla)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés to Sell its Centres in Xanadú and Francesc Macià

22 April 2019 – Eje Prime

El Corte Inglés is continuing to divest its real estate. The department store group has put its shops in Xanadú (Madrid) and Francesc Macià (Barcelona) up for sale.

They will be joined by others in San Juan de Aznalfarache (Sevilla), Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Ademuz (Valencia), Navarra, Independencia (Zaragoza), Málaga, Marineda City (A Coruña) and Siete Palmas (Gran Canaria).

In total, the group’s portfolio for sale comprises 14 properties, 16 plots of land and 65 assets of various types, including flats and parking spaces, spanning a combined surface area of 1.2 million m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés is Selling Major Offices on c/Hermosilla and c/Santiago de Compostela in Madrid

11 April 2019 – El Confidencial

The 95-strong asset portfolio that El Corte Inglés put up for sale a few weeks ago not only contains commercial assets. It also includes three important office buildings, all located in Madrid, which have sparked a great deal of interest amongst institutional investors.

They include one of the jewels in the crown of the retail giant, a 20,450 m2 office building located on Calle Hermosilla, opposite the group’s headquarters. It is currently occupied by the Purchasing Division and, according to sources familiar with the operation, may be converted into homes, which would make it a golden opportunity in one of the most sought-after areas of Madrid. Nevertheless, ECI would remain as the tenant of the property for at least three years under a sale and leaseback arrangement, with the option of extending that term for another three years.

The second office building is located on Calle Tomás López, which backs onto the Purchasing division’s offices. And the third office building, which is located on Calle Santiago de Compostela, 100, houses the headquarters of Provincial Court of Madrid. It is known as the Edificio Marbella and spans 6,200 m2. The regional Government has an agreement to lease the property and so the potential buyer would be guaranteed of a stable tenant, with a long-term contract and an annual rental income of almost €1 million.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Project Green: More Details about El Corte Inglés’s Property Divestment Plan

2 April 2019 – El Confidencial

More details have been revealed about the real estate portfolio that El Corte Inglés put up for sale last week. According to information presented in the blind teaser prepared by PwC, the portfolio known as Project Green includes 95 non-strategic assets and spans a constructed surface area of 998,000 m2 with another 228,000 m2 in available land.

The portfolio is split into three completely separate blocks. The first comprises 11 shopping centres. The second comprises three office buildings and 65 other assets, including 5 more shopping centres, located across six provinces. The third contains 16 plots of land, with the aforementioned combined surface area of 228,000 m2.

According to the teaser, 50% of the shopping centres, offices, parking lots and premises contained in the portfolio are concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Sevilla.

Moreover, the department store giant has expressed its willingness to remain as the tenant in 11 of the 16 shopping centres for between three and five years, although that period is regarded as too short by experts given the incompatibility of the properties with other uses (they have no windows, and so, are unsuitable for use as hotels or hospitals).

ECI has also said it would be willing to continue in two of the office buildings. Another block is leased to a third party for a gross annual income of €1.6 million and there are eight other premises whose rental amounts to €1.8 million.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Reduces the First Phase of its RE Sales Process to €1bn

29 March 2019 – El Confidencial

El Corte Inglés is refining the plan for its real estate divestment strategy. After hiring Javier Catena as the new Director of Real Estate, the group has decided to sell off its assets in phases and will begin by activating the sale of 95 assets, from an initial perimeter of 130.

The department store giant has engaged PwC to open the tender process for investors, with the aim of receiving final offers by the end of April.

The revised portfolio includes 14 commercial premises, 16 plots of land and 65 assets of various types, such as flats and parking spaces, which together span a total surface area of 1.2 million m2 and which are primarily located in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Sevilla.

Investors may bid for all or part of this first portfolio, or even for specific assets only. Most of the properties for sale are being offered with the option of a sale and leaseback arrangement, whereby the vendor would remain as the tenant following the sale.

By reducing the perimeter of this first phase to 95 properties, ECI has decreased the proceeds that it expects to receive from RE sales this year to €1 billion, compared to the figure of between €1.5 billion and €2 billion that it had announced in December.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

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

Funds, Socimis, El Corte Inglés & Seur Compete in the Urban Logistics Segment

9 March 2019 – Expansión

Investors and logistics operators alike are setting their sights on urban hubs to benefit from the boom in e-commerce. According to data from CBRE, investment in the logistics sector is thriving – it amounted to €2 billion in 2017, €1.5 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach €1.2 billion in 2019. Active players in the sector include the Singapore sovereign fund through its Socimi P3, Blackstone, Prologis, Logicor, CBRE GI and Montepino, and Merlin, amongst others.

Urban hubs are gaining significant weight in the sector thanks to their ability to reduce transport costs, avoid the new traffic restrictions and resolve the problem of product returns.

According to the CNMC, Correos and Correos Express currently deliver 44% of all packages in Spain, followed by MRW and Seur (14% each) and DHL (4.5%).

In terms of retailers operating in this space, Amazon set the ball rolling by opening a logistics centre in the heart of the Eixample district of Barcelona and in the Méndez Álvaro area of Madrid. Other large retailers are following suit by opening distribution centres inside major cities, such as Decathlon, MediaMarkt, Ikea, Aki, Carrefour and Worten.

The investment firm Azora has also announced its intention to invest €250 million in logistics hubs in urban centres, which it will lease to delivery specialists such as Seur, DHL and MRW. Seur already has eleven urban logistics centres and plans to open another nine this year. Meanwhile, DHL already has ten such hubs and plans to open two more this year.

In the same vein, the department store giant El Corte Inglés has also launched an ambitious omnichannel logistics strategy, which will convert its 94 shopping centres into storage points for the management of online purchases.

Original story: Expansión (by I. de las Heras & R. Arroyo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Inbest Completes its Purchase of a Property in Valencia from El Corte Inglés

5 March 2019 – Las Provincias

The fund manager Inbest Real Estate has formalised its purchase of an asset on Calle Colón in Valencia from El Corte Inglés. The property spans a commercial surface area of 7,600 m2, has 84 parking spaces and contains an office building measuring around 1,800 m2.

The deal forms part of an agreement reached between Inbest and the department store giant last August, which saw the fund acquire assets from ECI in Bilbao and Madrid for €184 million (for the three buildings).

Inbest was only created a year ago, but its portfolio already comprises iconic real estate assets worth more than €350 million, located on the main commercial thoroughfares of Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia.

Original story: Las Provincias

Translation: Carmel Drake

Thor Equities Finds a Tenant for its Jewel on Gran Vía

20 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Thor Equities has found a replacement for Sfera in the heart of Madrid. The US fund, which last year acquired number 30 Gran Vía for €75 million, has leased one of the commercial premises in the property to the sports fashion retailer Décimas.

The company has taken over the space measuring 600 m2 from Sfera, the fashion chain owned by El Corte Inglés. That retail company had occupied the premises since 2005 but decided to vacate it last year because it was too small for its new commercial format (…).

For Décimas, this new store represents a new step onto a prime thoroughfare. The chain concentrates the bulk of its store network in shopping centres, although it also has a flagship store on Calle Fuencarral (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Silvia Riera)

Translation: Carmel Drake