Tag: Eloy Gonzalo

Lar to Invest €200M Buying Retail Assets After Divesting Other Assets Worth €425M

25 April 2019 – El Economista

Lar is entering a new phase in which it will specialise in retail after divesting all of its offices and logistics assets. The Socimi has received total proceeds of €425 million from its recent sales, of which it intends to dedicate around €200 million to new purchases over the next three years.

According to José Luis del Valle, President of Lar España Real Estate, the Socimi is now going to focus on operations in the commercial segment only, including both asset purchases and new developments, to continue to expand its €1.5 billion portfolio.

Lar is coming to the end of the development of Vilanova Park in Sagunto (Valencia), Lagasca 99 in Madrid and Lagoh in Sevilla and so it has the capacity to take on more promotion projects in the future, according to Miguel Pereda, CEO of the Socimi.

Following its recent asset sales, Lar has approved the distribution of an extraordinary dividend amounting to €25 million, charged against the accounts for 2018, equivalent to €0.80 per share. This represents the largest dividend in the Socimi’s history and is 67% higher than last year’s payout.

On Wednesday, the Socimi completed the sale of the last office building left in its portfolios – the property located at Calle Eloy Gonzalo in Madrid, which is now in the hands of Swiss Life.

In addition to its forecast new operations, Lar is also working on the repositioning of its assets, with plans to invest €40 million in total.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

GMP Becomes 3rd Largest Socimi In Spain

21 July 2016 – El Confidencial

(…) In the audit report just realised by the group owned by the Montoro family, the Socimi GMP confesses that the real estate consultancy Savills has granted its real estate investments a fair value of €1,349 million, representing an increase compared to their value last year (€1,192 million). That figure places the Socimi at the same level as Hispania, and as such, means that it is competing directly with the company led by Concha Osácar and Fernando Gumuzia for third place in the national ranking of the large listed real estate companies in Spain, behind Merlin-Metrovacesa and Colonial.

The company owns several major office buildings, including its own headquarters, located on Luchana 23, as well as the following properties: Parque Norte, Castellana Norte, Iberia Mart I and II, Génova 27, Hermosilla 3-Ayala 8, Alcalá 16, Castellana 81, Castellana 77, Goya 14, Puerto de Somport 8, Eloy Gonzalo 10, Velázquez 164, Condesa de Venadito 1, Titán 4, Llano Castellano 51 and Trespaderme 29.

In order to build up this portfolio, the company has benefitted from the invaluable assistance of the Singapore Sovereign Fund (GIC) since October 2014, following the fund’s acquisition of 32.9% of its share capital, as part of an agreement to spend €61.5 million on the shares. It has also committed to invest another €67 million before the end of March, which will allow GMP to maintain its pace of investment during its first few months as a listed company.

Given that the Socimi was constituted two years ago…the company is obliged to debut on the stock market before 30 September 2016. Nevertheless, as the company itself acknowledges in its audit report, its aim is to complete this process before it goes on holiday in August. This means that, if it obtains all the necessary authorisations, it may join the MAB – the Alternative Investment Market – within the next two weeks.

Financial situation

Despite the spectacular valuation of its assets, GMP has debt with credit institutions amounting to €800 million. The first key date in this regard will come in 2017, when debt amounting to €741.9 million is due to mature; that gives the company enough time to adapt its financial commitments, especially its syndicated mortgage loan with Société Générale.

At the end of 2015, the Socimi’s share capital amounted to €9.4 million, represented by 1.9 million shares with a nominal value of €4.92, although three weeks ago the company approved a split of the nominal value of its shares, as a preliminary step ahead of its debut on the stock market.

GMP Property’s revenues from rental income amounted to €57.35 million in 2015, compared with €65.83 million in 2014. The decrease was driven by the remodelling of some of its properties, which the company is currently engaged in, such as BBVA’s former headquarters on Castellana 81. In addition, the company received turnover of €4.35 million from the renting of car parks and €9 million from the provision of services, taking its total operating income to €59.8 million, compared with €65.8 million in 2014.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GMP Socimi Finalises Its Debut On The Stock Exchange

17 May 2016 – El Confidencial

One of Spain’s largest real estate groups is about to list on the stock exchange. GMP Socimi, the company jointly owned by the Montoro family (70%) and the Government of Singapore (30%), now has all the pieces in place for its stock market debut.

To this end, the company has engaged the entity Renta 4 as registered advisor and has commissioned CBRE to value its assets, according to sources familiar with the company.

The debut on the stock market is a mandatory requirement for GMP, which was constituted as a Socimi in October 2014. The rules for this type of company grants a maximum period of two years to become a listed company. In fact, this rule has been behind all of the recent debuts of such companies on the MAB.

In parallel with its stock market listing, the real estate company has been negotiating with its creditor entities to secure the refinancing of its financial commitments, which exceed €750 million, according to its accounts for 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, and the majority of its debt is due to mature in 2017.

Although the gross value of the company’s assets amount to €1,300 million, the company was valued at just over €600 million two years ago, when the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC, acquired its 30% stake for €200 million.

Nevertheless, it was precisely the involvement of the Asian giant that allowed the Montoro family to adjust its financial situation and secure the necessary financing to sign operations such as the purchase of Castellana 77. All of this, combined with the recovery of the real estate market means that the group’s next valuation is expected to be much higher than the amount assigned by GIC at the time of its investment.

The Montoro family’s Socimi has been one of the great survivors of the crisis and its buildings include the iconic Torre BBVA on Paseo de la Castellana, as well as the property on Calle Génova, 27.

Since GIC became a shareholder, the company has handled operations such as the aforementioned purchase of Castellana 77 for €90 million; the former headquarters of Altadis, on the Madrilenian Calle Eloy Gonzalo, for €30 million; the office building located on Condesa de Venadito 1; the headquarters of Cortefiel and SGS in Madrid; and the development of a corporate building in Las Tablas.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CaixaBank Will Be S&P’s New Neighbour On The Castellana

9 March 2015 – Expansión

Lease Agreement / The bank is going to rent 2,800 square metres of office space in Banesto’s former headquarters. It will share the premises with the credit ratings agency, S&P, amongst others.

After a record year for investment in offices (Socimis and large international funds spent more than €1,000 million on acquisitions in 2014), the buildings in Madrid are also beginning to observe an increase in their occupancy rates, especially those located on the city’s main thoroughfare.

That is the case of the office building located on Paseo de la Castellana, 7. The former headquarters of Banesto will soon house another well known tenant. CaixaBank had agreed to rent out 2,800 square metres in the building. The bank will pay around €70,000 per month for the space, according to real estate sources.

In the last quarter of 2014, rents in the prime office areas of Madrid amounted to around €25.50 per square metre per month, the highest figure in the last three years, according to JLL.

Tenants

CaixaBank will join companies such as the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the Swiss bank Julius Baer, the law firm White & Case and the firms Munich Real Estate and FTI Consulting, which already have offices in the property. Until the arrival of the entity, chaired by Isidro Fainé, the most recent addition (to the property) was the Japanese business group Mitsui, which leases 1,500 square metres over two floors.

Castellana, 7 is owned by the Aragonese group Samca, which also owns the (property) developer Ebrosa. The building offers 12,869 square metres of office space in total and for years it housed the headquarters of Banesto. In 1997, the owner of Samca, the businessman Ángel Luengo, paid the entity 8,000 million pesetas (around €48 million), after failing to reach a preliminary agreement with Telefónica.

In 2011, the building was refurbished by the team at Aguirre Newman Arquitectura. Following the deal with CaixaBank, the building will have less than 5,000 square metres unoccupied.

Transactions

The rental of 2,800 square metres of office space on the Paseo de la Castellana by CaixaBank comes just two weeks after the first major office lease agreement of 2015 was signed in Madrid.

The professional services firm KPMG has reached an agreement with Mutua Madrileña to move its corporate headquarters in Madrid to the Torre de Cristal skyscraper, in the Cuatro Torres business district. KPMG has leased 20,000 square metres in the tower.

In 2014, office space occupying a surface area of 365,000 square metres (of the total 15.1 million sqm) was leased in Madrid. The most significant transactions included the move by Havas to the building on Eloy Gonzalo, 10, which had been acquired by the real estate group GMP a month before. The multi-media group will occupy the office space, which covers around 12,000 square metres. In Barcelona, the law firm Cuatrecasas signed an agreement to lease 19,900 square metres at the end of the year.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake