Eroski to Sell Hypermarkets in Southern Spain

10 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

The Basque chain Eroski is selling a series of hypermarkets due to an agreement with its creditor banks to refinance a debt of €1.542 billion. The markets are all located in southern Spain, whereas the bulk of Eroski’s operations are based in the northern part of the country: Galicia, the Basque Country, La Rioja, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

Given the hypermarkets’ geographical disparity, Eroski opted not to mandate a single advisor to complete the sale. Rather, it will work will a series of advisers to sell the individual assets.

Original Story: Idealista

Árima Makes its Logistics Debut with the Purchase of a Warehouse for €16.4M

7 May 2019 – Expansión

Árima Real Estate has made its debut in the logistics sector with the purchase of a warehouse spanning 26,000 m2 in San Agustín de Guadalix from an institutional fund for €16.4 million. The property is occupied in its entirety by the supermarket chain Eroski.

For the operation, the Socimi led by Luis Alfonso López Herrera-Oria, has been advised by Catella, EY Abogados and Savills Aguirre Newman as its real estate, legal and technical experts, respectively.

Following this operation, logistics assets account for 12.7% of Árima’s portfolio, with the remainder comprising offices in Madrid. The Socimi’s main shareholders include Bank of Montreal (10.4%); the British fund Pelham (9.984%); UBS (9.164%); Luis Alfonso López Herrera-Oria, (7.791%) and Morgan Stanley (5.122%).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Carmila Acquires La Verónica Shopping Centre in Antequera for €16M

4 January 2019 – Diario Sur

Carmila, Carrefour’s real estate subsidiary, has acquired a shopping centre spanning 12,000 m2 in Antequera for €16.1 million plus eight other establishments across Spain for €9.6 million, bringing the total investment made by the firm to €25.7 million.

The La Verónica shopping centre, which comprises 57 retail premises, is located in an expanding business area of the city in the province of Málaga, adjacent to a Carrefour hypermarket, which the French company purchased from Eroski, according to a statement issued yesterday to this newspaper.

The stores are home to brands such as Inditex, OVS Kids and Springfield, and the shopping centre also has a multi-screen cinema. According to Carmila’s estimates, with the current renovation of the complex, the shopping centre will offer organic growth over the medium term, which will increase its profitability by up to 100 basis points.

The other eight establishments acquired by the real estate company across Spain include six stores located in a shopping centre that already formed part of its portfolio and two other shops that the group will end up buying in the second half of the year.

In addition, Carmila has completed the sale of a batch of medium-sized stores to Klépierre, owner of the Turin-Grugliasco shopping centre, located in the Italian city, for €16.3 million.

Original story: Diario Sur 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eroski Sells & Leases Back a Hypermarket & Gas Station in Velez-Málaga

18 December 2018 – Alimarket

Eroski has sold the hypermarket and gas station that it owned in the El Ingenio Shopping Centre in the Malagan town of Velez-Málaga to the property developer Sociedad Azucarera Larios Patrimonio S.L. (Salsa Patrimonio), which forms part of the Azucarera Larios group. The assets will continue to be managed by the Basque cooperative under a 25-year lease contract. The centre has belonged to Eroski, through its company Cecosa Hipermercados, since its inauguration in November 2000.

According to a statement issued by Salsa Patrimonio, the firm is going to invest €25 million in the purchase and subsequent renovation of the hypermarket, which will reduce its surface area by 35%, from 13,782 m2 to 8,816 m2. Moreover, the statement highlighted that the objective of the operation is “to strengthen El Ingenio’s position as a reference shopping centre in the western Costa del Sol”, and the renovation will contribute to improving the shopping experience of its customers.

Indeed, Eroski is one of the retailers that is backing the sale and leaseback arrangement the most. This year, it has sold six other hypermarkets in this way in the Pais Vasco and Cantabria for €105 million, and just a few days ago, it did the same with its establishment in the El Mirador Shopping Centre, in the town of Jinámar (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

Original story: Alimarket (by Rosa de Lera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GGC Acquires El Mirador de Jinámar Shopping Centre for €45M

30 November 2018 – Eje Prime

General de Galerías Comerciales is now the owner of El Mirador de Jinámar. The Socimi led by the Murcian businessman Tomás Olivo has acquired the commercial complex located in the Canary Islands for €45 million. The company has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield during the operation.

El Mirador de Jinámar is the largest retail space in the Canary Islands. The asset has a total surface area of 50,000 m2, of which 11,300 m2 is dedicated to the first hypermarket that Eroski opened in the region. In fact, the Spanish supermarket chain is one of the drivers of the complex, together with the property developer Ambrosio Jiménez.

Since November 2010, the Mirador de Jinámar has housed a total of 120 establishments in its commercial area. Distributed over two floors, some of the tenants of the property include firms from the Inditex group, as well as H&M, Cortefiel and Primark (whose store exceeds 5,000 m2, making it the Irish company’s largest in the Canary Islands).

The complex is located in Jinámar, a neighbourhood located between the municipalities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, the two most important cities on the island. The complex also has a parking area with capacity for more than 40,000 vehicles. In a second phase, which is still pending, the centre is planning to expand its offer to include 45,000 m2 of additional space, which will be allocated to DIY and homeware firms (…).

Meanwhile, General de Galerías Comerciales made its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in July 2017. The company has twenty years of experience undertaking its activity right across the value chain, from the purchase of land to the management of assets.

The main assets in its portfolio are retail parks and shopping centres in Spain, such as La Cañada (Marbella), Mediterráneo (Almería), Mataró Parc (Mataró), Gran Plaza (Almería), Las Dunas and Nevada Shopping (Granada). The company also has an extensive portfolio of residential assets and retail premises, as well as land, primarily in the south of Spain. When the company made its debut on the MAB, its portfolio of assets was worth €1.9 billion.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills IM: Inv’t of €500M per Year Until 2022 Following Purchase of Aguirre Newman

26 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) is getting its chequebook out in Spain. The fund manager of the real estate consultancy firm is looking for new investments in the country six months after integrating Zaphir Asset Management into its structure under the framework of the acquisition of Aguirre Newman by Savills. Savills IM’s plans involve investing €500 million per year in Spain until 2022.

According to explanations provided by Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Director of the Savills IM office in Spain, speaking to Eje Prime, the fund manager forecasts building an asset portfolio on the Iberian Peninsula worth €2 billion, up from its current value of €480 million.

The company is now starting an ambitious positioning strategy in Spain, “having completed the integration of Zaphir”. Ramírez de Haro, who leads Savills IM’s office following the corporate operation, served as the Director General of Zaphir since 2007. Savills announced the acquisition of Aguirre Newman in July last year, but the operation was not completed until December when Savills IM integrated Zaphir.

The company is currently analysing investments worth €750 million in Spain, although the group is also considering entering the Portuguese market. Even though in 2017, the company’s most active markets were the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, the forecasts of Ramírez de Haro indicate that Spain will become the fourth most important European market for the group, behind the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

Savills IM’s current portfolio in Spain comprises thirteen assets or projects. Half of them correspond to investments in offices, 25% to retail, 17% to residential and 7% to logistics, according to Ramírez de Haro. One of the most recent operations signed by the group was the purchase, in May, of a hypermarket operated by Eroski in San Sebastián for €48 million.

The executive maintains that the company is looking for opportunities across the four segments, especially in retail and offices. “I do not want to say that logistics is not important, it is and very much so, but it is the segment that is suffering from the most acute shortage in terms of supply”, he said. “In terms of retail, a negative vision is coming from the USA, but for us, that is not the case, provided you look for assets that are not so dependent on online sales, such as retail parks, high street stores, outlets and shopping centres linked to food”, he maintains.

Savills IM combines three types of operations: the first is the management of funds raised in Europe (especially in Germany): the second involves the mandates of global investors; and the third is to support value-added funds in their investments in Europe. Whilst in the first case, the average investment in terms of own funds is between €20 million and €80 million, international mandates tend to be upwards of €100 million and value-added operations typically range between €15 million and €100 million.

The fund manager has a workforce of sixteen people in Spain, fifteen of whom come from the former Zaphir structure and one from Savills IM. The group expects to have 22 employees in five years time.

On the global stage, Savills IM has a workforce of 300 employees and eighteen offices. In 2017, the group recorded transactions worth €5.5 billion: €4.5 billion in Europe and €1 billion in Asia. The company plans to spend €1 billion in own funds in 2018 for the acquisition of new assets in Europe and Asia.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo & P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

ICG Makes €105M Investment in Eroski Spanish Hypermarkets

31 May 2018 – Property Magazine

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) will invest €105 million in six Spanish hypermarkets. ICG has partnered with Inmobiliaria Armuco S.L., a real estate company 45% owned by Eroski, a food retailer in Northern Spain, to acquire five of its hypermarkets and one more completely owned by Eroski in a primary sale and leaseback transaction underpinned by 21-year, CPI-linked, triple-net leases.

The assets are located in the Basque region of Spain and each rank in the top quartile in terms of Eroski’s trading performance. According to Savills, Spain has enjoyed a return to growth in excess of 3% for the last three consecutive years and is predicted to outperform the Eurozone, in terms of GDP, for the next three years.

Chris Nichols, Managing Director of ICG Sale and Leaseback, commented: “We are pleased to have partnered with Eroski on this transaction and to have acquired six assets in strategic priority locations for Eroski. We have a pipeline of deals, and are actively looking for further opportunities in this space, both in Spain and across the wider European market”.

ICG was advised by Savills and Eversheds.

Original story: Property Magazine

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Savills IM Buys a Hypermarket in San Sebastián for €48M

23 May 2018 – Expansión

The fund manager Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) has purchased a hypermarket in the Garbera shopping centre in San Sebastián for €48 million.

The agreement, closed with an international institutional investor, has been completed in an off-market operation.

The investment, made by Savills IM on behalf of the European investment fund European Retail Fund (ERF) reflects a net yield of approximately 5%.

The hypermarket has a total surface area of 14,200 m2 and is operated by Eroski.

Specifically, the hypermarket is located on the ground floor of the Garbera shopping centre, which is owned by Unibail Rodamco. It is the dominant shopping centre in the region, according to the fund manager.

Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Director General at Savills Investment Management for Spain and Portugal, said that, with this operation, the fund manager is growing its footprint in the Iberian Peninsula, with a regional portfolio of assets under management amounting to almost €500 million.

“Spain and Portugal are a strategic priority for 2018 and the next few years, both for Savills IM and for its clients and strategic partners. To that end, we are going to continue studying the market in an active way and we are convinced that we will be able to bring to fruition several investment opportunities over the coming months”, added Ramírez de Haro.

Savills IM, with offices in almost twenty cities around the world, was managing assets with a total value of approximately €16.6 billion at the end of last year.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank Acquires L’Aljub Shopping Centre in Elche for €170M

8 May 2018 – Expansión

Deutsche Bank is increasing its commitment to the Spanish retail sector by adding the L’Aljub shopping centre in Elche to its portfolio of assets in Spain.

Specifically, the German bank has signed an agreement with the fund Seva (Southern European Value-Add Mandate), managed by TH Real Estate for the investors TPG Real Estate – the real estate platform of the international manager TPG – and Partners Group, for €170 million.

The operation has been advised by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield, which has worked with the vendor, whilst CBRE has advised on the buy side.

With this acquisition, the entity is strengthening its position in the commercial sector in the country. In August 2016, Deutsche Bank purchased the Diagonal Mar shopping centre from Northwood for €495 million. That operation was the second largest transaction ever closed in the shopping centre sector in Spain, after the purchase of Xanadú.

Moreover, Trajano – the Socimi managed by Deutsche Bank – purchased the Alcalá Magna shopping centre from Incus Capital for just over €100 million at the beginning of last year. In addition, the firm also owns the Salera shopping centre in Castellón de la Plana.

The L’Aljub shopping centre was inaugurated in 2003 and spans more than 60,000 m2, spread over two floors and with a large underground car park.

Besides the commercial and leisure offering, L’Aljub is home to an Eroski hypermarket on the ground floor.

Specifically, the shopping centre contains 120 shops and has 3,200 parking spaces. Its most high-profile tenants include Inditex, H&M, Primark, Mango and Cines ABC.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deka Puts the Ballonti Shopping Centre Up For Sale for €150M

26 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Deka is continuing with its plan to generate cash from its real estate assets in Spain and to this end, has placed the Ballonti shopping centre on the market. After paying €116 million to Eroski for the Basque shopping centre located in Portugalete (Bizkaia) eight years ago, the German fund is now asking for €150 million from the sale of the complex, which spans a surface area of 51,000 m2.

Following the steps announced by the Director of Retail Property Fund Management at Deka Management, Esteban de Lope, speaking to Eje Prime, recently, who said that “it is now more feasible for Deka to sell than buy”, the fund has placed the “For Sale” sign up over a new asset in its Spanish portfolio, which is worth €1 billion in total.

A few days ago, the German manager placed back on the market the majority the Inditex properties that it acquired at the beginning of this year for €400 million, as reported by Eje Prime. Around the world, Deka’s portfolio of assets is worth more than €35 billion.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake