Tag: Emesa

Emilio Cuatrecasas Buys Empordà Golf For €20M

10 July 2017 – Expansión

Emilio Cuatrecasas is continuing his commitment to the Costa Brava. A group of investors led by his holding company, Emesa Corporación, is finalising the purchase of Empordà Golf Resort from Habitat Inmobiliaria for around €20 million. The operation involves two 18-hole golf course in Gualta (Girona) and a hotel complex, which has 87 rooms and which is managed by Double Tree by Hilton.

The resort had awakened interest from other investors, but in the end, the lawyer has taken the lead in the bidding. The operation will now begin a due diligence phase. The group led by Emesa will go on to control 90% of the capital of the sports facility given that the remaining 10% will continue in the hands of numerous small shareholders, who are also members of the golf course.

The complex was constructed in 1996 by the Figueras family – the former owners of Habitat – and, since the beginning, its members have included well-known Catalan business people, such as Emilio Cuatrecasas himself, Pedro Fontana and members of the Puig, Esteve and Uriach families. Besides the hotel, the resort includes a residential area, with rental apartments and homes.

The purchase of Empordà Golf will not see the asset form part of the chain of rural hotels that Emilio Cuatrecasas is promoting in the Empordá region. In 2016, the lawyer announced his intention of launching a new brand specialising in small, high-end hotels and last summer, he completed his first acquisition: a small palace in Ullastret, which he will transform into a hotel after investing €7 million. Although this asset is located in the lawyer’s target region, the hotel at Empordà Golf does not fit with the profile of unique buildings that he is looking for in that case.

Emesa groups together the business and real estate stakes owned by Cuatrecasas and its assets are worth more than €480 million.

Habitat, which is chaired by Bruno Figueras, continues under the control of banks and international funds.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Anglés and J. Orihuel)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cuatrecasas’ Family Office Buys Plot Of Land To Build 6 Offices

5 July 2017 – Eje Prime

The Cuatrecasas family has strengthened its real estate portfolio in Barcelona. Emesa, the investment arm of Emilio Cuatrecasas, has bought 31,000 m2 of land in Project Finestrelles, located in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), where it plans to build six office blocks, according to sources close to the operation. These plots were owned until now by Vaines, which was a subsidiary of Metrovacesa until five years ago.

Project Finestrelles has been assigned three uses, including the residential part, measuring 90,000 m2 for the construction of housing; the commercial area, where Inbisa has already started work on a complex measuring more than 99,000 m2; and offices. The latter space is divided into two projects: the first is being handled by Sacresa, owned by the Sanahuja family, which is building two office blocks, measuring 22,000 m2 each.

The second project was owned by Vaines until now. Emilio Cuatrecasas plans to construct a business park containing six offices blocks. This project received the green light in 2014, after twelve years of administrative procedures, and so now it is beginning to take shape. Emesa declined to comment on the operation, whose price has not been revealed.

In total, Finestrelles has a surface area of 395,000 m2, between Avenida Dels Països Catalans, the Ronda de Dalt, the A-2 motorway and Calle Laureà Miró. The plans for the site, which have driven by Sacresa, have received the blessing of the Town Hall from the beginning, although it is only now that the so-called “new Diagonal de Barcelona” is starting to take shape.

In this way, Emesa is taking another step towards its goal to increases its portfolio of assets. Excluding the Finestrelles operation, the group owns real estate assets covering around 125,000 m2, which represent more than half of the group’s assets, worth more than €480 million.

In recent months, the investment arm of Emilio Cuatrecasa has carried out several acquisitions. Its purchases have included number 444 on Avenida Diagonal, for which it paid €35 million. The property, known as the Majorica building, has three façades overlooking Diagonal, Paseo de Gràcia and Calle Còrsega, and until last December it housed some of the law firm Cuatrecasas’ offices.

Last summer, Emesa also completed the acquisition of a unique asset. The investment group purchased the Ullastrer palace in the Baix Empordà area, with the aim of promoting a premium hotel chain. The estate, known as Can Romaguera, is being restored and has up to 2,500 m2 of space for hotel use, with an investment of €7 million.

The asset portfolio of Emesa, led by Ferran Forrellad, is completed by: a building at number 191 on Avenida Diagonal, which houses the new headquarters of Cuatrecasas; a property at number 579 on Avenida Diagonal, which is home to the headquarters of Emesa; two office buildings in Mas Blau; and a logistics park in El Pla de Santa María, in Tarragona.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake