Tag: exchange

Valladolid’s Town Hall Finalises Operation to Group Together its Offices in Plaza San Pablo

18 August 2018 – El Norte de Castilla

Valladolid’s Town Hall is finalising an operation to hand over plots of land to the Ministry of Justice and group together its headquarters in San Pablo.

The buyer is a listed company and, before closing an agreement with the Town Hall, needs to obtain approval from its shareholders and from Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission. But the operation, which is described as “good news” for the city and the municipal coffers, is in a very advanced stage. The Town Hall is finalising the drafting of the agreement with an important company, whose name has not been disclosed, which will make it possible for the El Salvador school plot to be placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Justice so that all of the headquarters located across the city can be grouped together in the San Pablo area.

The deal will work as follows. The property development firm will acquire the plots from the owner of the former education centre, pay off a significant debt that its owners have contracted with Sareb – which is estimated to amount to €10 million – and grant the El Salvador plot to the Town Hall. In exchange, the Town Hall ‘will pay’ this plot with buildability. Specifically, almost 6,000 m2 on another “very central” plot, whose location has not been revealed for the time being.

Without legal problems

According to the local Administration, the solution will resolve all of the problems and delays that an expropriation process could involve and will include the withdrawal of legal appeals that the owner company had filed against the municipal plans.

Moreover, the Town Hall will maintain the buildability of the plots next to the Zambrana school, in the Delicias neighbourhood – plots that were going to be handed over to the owners of the school as compensation for El Salvador (…).

The plan, as announced by the mayor last week, is to sign the agreement with the buyer during the month of September (…).

Original: El Norte de Castilla (by J. Asua)

Translation: Carmel Drake

A Spanish Socimi Debuts on the Paris Stock Market to Avoid the MAB’s Requirements

26 July 2018 – Idealista

Some of Spain’s Socimis are looking beyond the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in search of visibility, prestige…and one or more regulatory benefits. Logis Confort, the Socimi owned by the Valencian property developer and construction firm CV Grupo, has become the first in Spain to list on the Euronext exchange.

The company made its debut on the stock market headquartered in Paris on 13 July, at a price of €2.20 per share and a market capitalisation of more than €11 million; its portfolio comprises seven assets. Together its assets span a surface area of 23,521 m2 and are worth around €15 million, according to Gesvalt’s calculations.

Logis Confort is dedicated to the rental of industrial and logistics buildings. Founded in 2001 by Salvador Vila Arcos, the owner of CV Grupo (which specialises in building and leasing industrial warehouses and spaces), the company adopted the Socimi structure in August 2016. The firm, which has been advised by Armanext (the largest Spanish advisor in taking Socimis to the European stock market) has its headquarters in San Fernando de Henares, in Madrid.

The company is currently working on medium- and long-term projects and its aim is the acquisition of buildings, through purchase or development, in areas “with a great industrial tradition and close to large Spanish cities, to transfer them for rent”, according to the firm. The group’s shareholders include Salvador Vila Arcos, who owns 50% of the capital; Edelmiro Copoví, who owns 25%; and his brother José Manuel Copoví, who owns the remaining 25%.

The company’s shareholder structure is, precisely, one of the features that draws the most attention. Since it does not have any minority shareholders, the vehicle cannot trade on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) where all of Spain’s other Socimis are listed, with the exception of the largest, which trade on the traditional stock market. It was just a year ago, when the manager of the market decided to tighten up the rules and, since then, it has forced these types of companies to have a minimum quantity of minority shareholders to approve their stock market debuts (…).

Therefore, since it did not have any minority shareholders, it soon became clear that the Socimi would have to undertake the operation on another European market. And Euronext is the one that establishes the fewest requirements in this regard, specifically the market called Euronext Access (there is another one called ‘Growth’, which establishes more onerous requirements). As such, it was chosen for the firm’s stock market debut to allow it to maintain the tax benefits that are afforded to Socimis (…).

Logis’s portfolio

Logis Confort has a portfolio of assets comprising seven industrial properties and several parking lots in Madrid and Valencia, two markets that are being boosted by the improvement in the economy, the recovery in exports, domestic consumption and e-commerce. By market value and surface area, the jewel in Logis Confort’s crown is the logistics warehouse located in Picassent, in Valencia, which spans 11,800 m2 and has a market value of €8 million. That property is leased to Facil Europe and Transfesa.

Also in Valencia, the Socimi owns assets in Almussafers and Ribarroja, which together have a market value of €6 million and span an industrial space of more than 10,700 m2. In Madrid, the company owns a logistics property in San Fernando de Henares, leased to Transecort Logistics, which has a market price of less than €1 million (…).

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja and Ana P. Alarcos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Town Hall of Sevilla Grants Plot to Insur in Exchange for 63 Homes, 3 Retail Premises & €3.5M

6 July 2018 – Inmodiario

The Town Hall of Sevilla, through Emvisesa, and the company Inmobiliaria del Sur (Insur) have formalised an operation to exchange a plot of land on c/Ramón Carande included within the strategy to urgently expand the public housing stock and approved by the Town hall with a final value of €11.2 million, excluding the investment that the company will make to develop the land acquired.

In this way, and following a public tender, the city is exchanging a plot of land worth €7 million on which it will build up to 68 homes, for 63 constructed and completed homes, plus three commercial premises, a plot of land for 135 flats and €3.5 million.

“This is an innovative project of a social nature, which we launched with the backing of the Town Hall at the start of the mandate and which is now a reality. It is a good agreement for the city, which allows us to respond to an urgent need: to expand the public housing stock immediately”, explained the Mayor of Sevilla, who participated in the event at which the exchange agreement was signed together with the Delegate for Social Well-being and Employment, Juan Manuel Flores; the Delegate for Urban Living, Tourism and Culture, Antonio Muñoz; the Manager of Emvisesa, Felipe Castro; and the President and CEO of Inmobiliaria del Sur, Ricardo and Francisco Pumar.

Upon signing the agreement, the company handed over the 63 completed homes to the Town Hall. They are ready for the tenants to move into and 51 of them are located in the same block, on Avenida de Andalucía. They have a total appraisal value of €6.5 million.

The local government, through Emvisesa, is already working to formalise the change in rating from sale to rental and to complete their award (to their new tenants) as soon as possible with the following split: 70% will be allocated to young people recorded in the claimants register and the remaining 30% will be social housing properties based on criteria established by Social Well-being.

Similarly, three commercial premises are being incorporated into the town hall’s portfolio, which will be marketed as part of the municipal employment programs. A plot of land in Valdezorras is also being incorporated, where 135 more affordable homes may be built, which will be executed by Emvisesa.

Finally, Emvisesa will also receive €1.2 million from this operation, which will be used to purchase empty Emvisesa homes that have a total budget of €1.5 million and which already has 25 homes appraised and valid for acquisition. The remaining €2.3 million will be used for renovation projects, such as the new inter-generational housing block on c/García Ramos.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit’s President, Félix Abánades, Increases his Stake in the Property Developer to 28.6%

15 December 2017 – Valencia Plaza

The President of Quabit, Félix Abánades (pictured below), has increased his stake in the real estate company to 28.6% from the 21% that he had held until now, as the largest shareholder, following the materialisation of a land swap for shares. In this way, Abánades holds an almost 30% stake in Quabit, the threshold above which the law would oblige him to launch a takeover bid for 100% of the company.

The President of the firm has already expressed his intention to sell his shares on the market to move away from that legal limit. “Nevertheless, I will sell a few shares as possible, given that I trust in the company’s capacity to push up its share price”, said Abánades recently, talking to Europa Press. In any case, he will retain at least a 20% stake in the company.

The President of Quabit, through his construction company Rayet, is one of six investors with which the real estate company recently closed land purchases in exchange for shares. The operations materialised through a series of non-monetary capital increases, which amounted to €47.7 million in total, and which were approved in November by an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting.

The largest of these operations was precisely the one closed with the construction company owned by Abánades, which transferred developable residential land located in the Corredor de Henares to Quabit for €30.14 million. The plots span a surface area of 131,000 m2 and have capacity for the construction of 1,053 homes. Specifically, in exchange for transferring these plots, Abánades received 15.77 million new shares in Quabit, taking his stake in the company to 26.65 million shares, equivalent to 28.639% of the share capital, according to the registers of Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

Moreover, all of these operation form part of the active land purchase investment policy that the real estate company has carried out this year and which has caused it to almost double the objectives set out in its strategic plan. In this way, Quabit plans to develop 7,880 new homes between now and 2022, compared to the 4,100 forecast initially.

Abánades is currently the only significant shareholder of Quabit, together with Sareb, which holds a 5.52% stake that it foreclosed from an investor. Nevertheless, the company said that with the aforementioned land exchange operations, other minority interest shareholders now own stakes in its share capital.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin & Santander Plan To List Testa Residencial In 2017

12 September 2016 – Expansión

Mega-operation / On Thursday, the General Shareholders’ Meetings of Metrovacesa and Merlin will approve the merger from which the largest real estate company and rental home Socimi will emerge, which will debut on the stock market next year.

Merlin Properties and Santander plan to list Testa Residential on the stock market next year. The rental home Socimi will result from the merger between the real estate company and Metrovacesa, according to comments made by official company sources to Europa Press. The new Socimi will result from a mega merger operation between Merlin and Metrovacesa, the real estate company in which Santander, BBVA and Popular all own stakes.

The largest real estate company in Spain will emerge from this integration. The firm will also be one of the largest RE companies in Europe, with a portfolio of office buildings, shopping centres and logistics assets worth around €9,300 million. The new Merlin will have Santander as its majority shareholder, with a 21.9% stake, and will list on the Ibex.

New company

The operation will also give rise to a second company, Testa Residential, as a result of a decision by Merlin and Metrovacesa’s creditor banks to separate their respective batches of rental homes into an independent company.

Merlin and Metrovacesa are already finalising the integration process, which will give rise to the two companies and which will be completed at the end of October. On Thursday 15 September, the companies will hold their respective extraordinary general shareholders’ meetings, where the merger operation will be approved.

Subsequently, both companies will participate in an asset-share exchange, through which the integration will materialise. By virtue of the operation, Santander and the other banks that currently control Metrovacesa will transfer the real estate company’s office buildings and shopping centres, worth €1,672 million, to Merlin, in exchange for shares in the Socimi. In parallel, the two companies will transfer their rental homes to the new company Testa Residencial, which will have a portfolio of rental homes worth around €980 million.

Testa Residential’s debut on the stock exchange forms part of the growth strategy to be implemented by the new Socimi, which is now the largest rental home company in the country. The real estate company will receive approval for an initial portfolio containing 4,700 rental homes, mostly located in the province of Madrid (63%). The other properties are located in Mallorca, San Sebastián, Pamplona and other cities.

One of the new growth pillars of Testa Residencial will be the provision of new batches of homes by Santander and the other two shareholder banks of Metrovacesa, BBVA and Popular, through non-monetary capital increases.

Shareholders

The entity chaired by Ana Botín will be the majority shareholder of the new firm Testa Residencial, with a 46.21% stake, ahead of Merlin, which will own 34.2% of the share capital, BBVA (13%) and Banco Popular (6%). Merlin Properties plans to hold onto its stake in the rental home company over the long term, despite the dilution of its initial percentage stake, as the banks contribute new assets.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb May Exchange Its €57.5M Debt In Realia For Shares

20 May 2015 – El Economista

Sareb may have the option to enter the share capital of Realia, with a maximum stake of 4.5%, through the exchange for shares of the equity loans (€57.5 million) that it holds with the real estate company.

Realia will request authorisation at its next shareholders’ meeting to undertake the necessary capital increases in the event that the ‘bad bank’ decides to perform the operation.

It will undertake two capital increases, one amounting to €29 million and a second amounting to €28.9 million. In both cases, it will issue around fourteen million new shares at €2 per share, a price that almost triples (+185%) the current share price of the real estate company.

Shareholder

In this way, Realia will give the ‘bad bank’ another year to exercise its option to become a shareholder of the company. The institution will consider this possibility at a time when Realia is subject to two takeover bids (OPA), one by the Socimi Hispania and the other by the businessman Carlos Slim.

These bidders are waiting for Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) to approve the second bid so that the acceptance period may begin.

Sareb’s equity loan in Realia was granted in September 2009, when the real estate company signed a €100 million loan agreement with its two then partners (FCC and Bankia), which each contributed 50% of the balance. FCC then exchanged its entire loan balance for shares in the company, converting it into the majority shareholder, with a stake of 36.8%, which it has already said it will not sell under either of the takeover scenarios.

Meanwhile, Bankia, which currently has an agreement to sell its 24.9% stake in Realia to Carlos Slim, transferred its share of the loan to Sareb in December 2012. The entity has not yet made any decision about the eventual conversion. Nevertheless, the financing is due to expire in 2016.

Of Sareb’s total loan amount, one tranche amounting to €29 million is “freely convertible” in nature, whilst the second tranche, amounting to €28.58 million, is “not freely convertible”, which means that the institution will have to decide between capitalising it or accepting a discount.

Slim’s arrival

Another item on the agenda at Realia’s shareholders’ meeting, which will be held on 22 June, is the ratification of the appointment of Gerardo Kuri as a Director – he is currently the Director General of Real Estate at Carso, one of Slim’s companies, as well as a Director of FCC and the CEO of Cementos Portland.

Slim appointed this spokesman and positioned him on Realia’s board, after he became the primary shareholder of FCC and that group decided to continue as a partner of the real estate company, but just days before the Mexican businessman launched his takeover bid for the company.

Realia will also ask its shareholders for approval, if they deem appropriate, of an increase in its share capital by up to half of its current size and to issue debt securities for a period of up to five years and for a maximum amount of €450 million.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake