Iba Capital’s Socimi, Zambal, Will List This Year

17 September 2015 – Expansión

The Socimi Zambal, created by the fund manager Iba Capital, is finalising its debut on the stock exchange before the end of the year. Its main assets include the headquarters of BMW, Enagás and Día in Madrid and the ABC Serrano shopping centre, also in the capital.

A new mega Socimi is preparing to debut on the stock market in 2015. The company in question is Zambal Spain, the listed real estate investment company created by the fund manager Iba Capital. With assets worth €500 million, the company will list on the MAB stock exchange before the end of the year. “We are not in any rush, but our aim is to go public before the end of the year”, explains Thierry Julienne, the President of IBA and of Zambal.

Since closing its first acquisition in 2013, the fund manager has created one of the most desirable portfolios in the market and plans to invest a further €1,000 million in new acquisitions. “We aim to invest a further €500 million in assets with a core profile in Madrid and Barcelona, through Zambal Spain, plus an additional €500 million with a value-added profile (those that require active management) in Spain’s main regional capital cities, through other vehicles”, explained Julienne in a statement.

The Socimi closed its first operation in Spain in the summer of 2013, when it purchased a building in Plaza Cataluña, Barcelona, from El Corte Inglés for €100 million. At the end of that year, it bought the ABC Serrano shopping centre and an office complex, located on Avenida de San Luis, 25, both in Madrid, from the real estate company Reyal Urbis, which had filed for bankruptcy in the February of that year. The office houses the headquarters of the communication group Unidad Editorial (which edits Expansión, El Mundo and Marca, amongst others).

Over the last two years, Zambal has added the headquarters of other famous brands to its portfolio. In December 2013, Iba purchased Torres Ágora from the real estate company Colonial; the property is leased in its entirety to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Socimi spent €73 million on its purchase of that office complex.

In 2014, the fund manager acquired Enagás’ headquarters in Madrid for €35 million and then Día’s headquarters for €30 million.

At the beginning of this year, Iba purchased BMW’s head offices in Spain, located in the north west of the capital. It paid €41 million to the French real estate company Gecina for the property, which measures 11,680 m2.

In addition to its extensive portfolio of offices, the Socimi also owns a retail building on Calle Preciados, 9, which it acquired from El Corte Inglés in 2013 for €50 million. Once the renovation of the property has been completed, it will house a major international fashion company.

Both the Socimi and the fund manager are led by Thierry Julienne, the former director of the consultancy Exa in Spain. Its investors include major European and American investors.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake