Quabit to Invest €20M in Land in Valencia to Build 500 Homes

24 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit Inmobiliaria is strengthening its commitment to Valencia. The listed property developer is going to invest at least €20 million this year in the purchase of buildable land in the autonomous region, where it is planning to build 500 homes. The company is planning to acquire plots in different locations across the region and does not rule out spending up to €30 million if the right opportunities arise.

The company led and controlled by Félix Abánades (pictured above) wants to position itself as a leading player in the Mediterranean region with plots “that allow us to launch promotions immediately”, revealed the director in an interview with València Plaza.

Valencia and the Alicante coast are going to be the markets in the region where Quabit will make the majority of its investments, given that the firm believes that “they have a lot of potential and housing is still cheap there, with scope for business”, according to Abánades.

The capital needed to carry out these operations will be financed, in part, by the capital increase that the company undertook recently and through which it expects to raise up to €63 million.

Quabit’s existing land portfolio in the Community of Valencia totals 126,500 m2, which accounts for 12% of all the land that it owns in Spain. The region is one of the property developer’s major focuses. It also has a significant presence in other coastal regions, such as the province of Málaga, where it owns land with capacity for 2,000 homes.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Conducts a €63M Capital Increase

18 May 2018 – Expansión

Quabit has completed, with an over-subscription, the €63 million capital increase through which it plans to raise funds to execute its Business Plan for 2022. The new shares are expected to start trading on 31 May.

The property developer received subscription orders for €62 million, more than 98% of the total, during the preferential subscription period. Moreover, during the period for the assignation of additional shares, requests were made for €53 million, which will be limited to just over €1 million on a pro-rata basis.

The property developer, which will increase its share capital by issuing 7 new shares for every 22 existing shares, has set the final subscription price at €1.80. The company’s shares closed trading yesterday at €2.095, 0.96% higher. “The excellent result confirms the confidence that the markets have in Quabit and is a resounding endorsement of our growth strategy”, said Félix Abánades, Chairman of Quabit (pictured above).

Quabit owns a portfolio of land spanning more than 1 million m2 for the construction of around 9,000 homes.

Original story: Expansión (by R. A.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Strengthens its Commitment to Cataluña

3 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The Madrid-based firm Quabit is setting its sights on Cataluña. The listed property developer, chaired by Félix Abánades, is going to invest €100 million in the region, where it plans to construct up to 1,000 homes throughout the Barcelona area.

This move, which comes days after the firm approved a €63 million capital increase, forms part of the real estate company’s business plan for 2022. Of the €100 million that it is going to invest in Cataluña, 70% will be spent on the development of around 1,000 homes in the capital. The remaining €30 million will be used to purchase new land in the autonomous region and to build developments in municipalities where it already owns plots.

The company, which owns more than 100,000 m2 of buildable land in Cataluña, has plots on which to build homes in cities as diverse as Granollers, on the outskirts of Barcelona, and Cambrils, the tourist town on the Costa Daurada (Tarragona), according to Expansión.

Abánades has confirmed that, for the time being, the property developer is going to focus on the residential sector. As such, plots in other segments, such as the industrial land that it owns in Reus, will be put up for sale.

Currently, the Catalan market accounts for 12% of Quabit’s total business, a figure that the President and majority shareholder of the company expects to maintain or even increase to 15%.

The property developer’s plans in Spain for 2018 involve the hand over of up to 210 homes, before increasing that figure to up to 900 properties next year. After that, the rate of home handovers will increase to 3,000 units per year from 2020 onwards, according to forecasts shared by Abánades.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Creates a Corporate Network to ‘Attack’ the Rental Market

24 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit is looking to the future and is organising its business to respond to the new trends in the residential market. The company, chaired by Félix Abánades, has started to create a new corporate network under the activity of freehold properties, a business concept that is used for asset management with ownership rights. The constitution of these companies comes in response to “the evolution of the market and the importance of businesses such as the rental market”, according to explanations provided by Quabit to Eje Prime.

Specifically, the property developer has recently created four companies: Quabit Freehold Properties, Quabit Freehold Properties Levante, Quabit Freehold Properties Centro and Quabit Freehold Properties Sur, whereby covering a large proportion of the Spanish peninsula. All of the companies have their registered addresses at number 1 Calle Capitán Haya in Madrid, which is also home to Quabit’s headquarters.

In this way, the company is getting its business ready to meet the needs of new generations, who see renting as a more feasible option. These types of companies may also be the seed of a future Quabit Socimi, although sources at the company say that this option has been “parked” for the time being (…).

Quabit, recent steps

Last year and the beginning of 2018 have been very positive for Quabit. The property developer bid farewell to 2017 with a net profit of €14.4 million, which represented an increase of 80% compared to the €8 million it earned in 2016.

Moreover, the company recorded turnover of €535.7 million in 2017, although its sales fell by 83% due to a reduction in stock during 2016 and because new developments will start to be handed over this year, according to the real estate company. The market value of Quabit’s assets (GAV) as at 31 December 2017 amounted to €399.3 million.

Moreover, the group’s plans involve continuing to fatten up its portfolio with the purchase of new land to continue growing. In April, the company signed a line of credit for up to €50 million with the aim of financing the acquisition of buildable land focused on the construction of residential real estate assets.

The real estate company signed that loan with several funds advised by Taconic Capital Advisors UK and Grupo Royal Metropolitan España. Specifically, according to the agreement, the line will be used to finance 70% of the amount corresponding to the acquisition of land and taxes, whilst the remaining 30% will be financed by Quabit.

The signing of that line of credit formed part of the new investment financing scheme set out by Quabit in its Business Plan for 2017-2022 (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Signs €50M Loan with Taconic & Grupo Royal Metropolitan to Fund Land Purchases

4 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit has sealed a deal to continue operating in the property development business. The company has signed a line of credit amounting to €50 million with the aim of financing the acquisition of developable plots of land focused on the development of residential real estate assets, according to a statement filed by the company with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV). The real estate company has signed the loan with specific funds advised by the companies Taconic Capital Advisors UK and Grupo Royal Metropolitan España.

Specifically, according to the agreement, the provisions of this line will finance 70% of land acquisitions and the corresponding taxes, whilst Quabit will finance the remaining 30%.

The funds must be drawn down during the first nine months of the contract, and the drawn down funds must be returned upon maturity of the line of credit, after four years, with the possibility of making early repayments and reusing the funds to finance new investments.

For each one of the projects financed, a separate company will be used in which Quabit will hold a 100% stake, albeit indirectly. These stakes will be the guarantee for the loans, leaving the land free, if necessary, for banks to finance its development.

The signing of this line of credit forms part of the new investments financing scheme established by Quabit in its business plan for 2017-2022. The company chaired by Félix Abánades recorded turnover of €535.7 million in 2017, although its sales fell by 83% due to a reduction in stock during 2016, and because its new developments are going to start to be handed over this year, according to the real estate company.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Basque Construction Firm Ondobide Buys 3.8% of Quabit for €8M

9 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The Basque construction firm Ondobide is taking positions in the Spanish property development sector. The company has acquired 3.82% of Quabit’s share capital for €8 million, by exchanging the shares for plots of land in its construction company Rayet, according to a statement made by the group to the National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The Basque firm has whereby become the third largest shareholder of the company, after its President, Félix Abánades, and the fund manager Francisco García Paramés, who also acquired 4.93% of the firm in the same capital increase. In the case of the President, by virtue of the capital increase, his stake was diluted to 24% from the 28.63% that he had increased his stake to on the occasion on another capital increase.

Ondobide and Paramés have acquired stakes in Quabit’s share capital as part of the most recent capital increase that the real estate company has undertaken. It issued new shares amounting to €29 million for the express purpose of opening up its equity to new shareholders.

The real estate company undertook this increase and admitted these new shareholders after also making way for minority shareholders through a series of non-monetary capital increases approved in November to close half a dozen operations that involved swapping land for shares.

Original story: Eje Prime

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

Quabit & Avenue Capital Create a Company to Buy Residential Land

4 December 2017 – El Mundo

Quabit Inmobiliaria and the global investment firm Avenue Capital have constituted a company, in which the US fund holds an almost 10% stake and the property developer controls the majority shareholding, to carry out the purchase and development of residential land in Málaga (Mijas), the Balearic Islands and the Corredor del Henares.

In this way, Avenue Capital is ratifying its support for Quabit’s investment and growth plan and is showing its confidence in the development of those assets, worth almost €75 million. The assets have a combined buildable surface area with capacity for approximately 2,000 homes, according to a statement issued by the property developer.

According to the same source, Quabit Inmobiliaria and Avenue have signed all of the documents that set out the terms of the financing line agreement amounting to up to €40 million, announced in September. Of those funds, which will be used to buy the aforementioned plots of land, 15% will take the form of a participation loan and the rest will correspond to senior debt.

The remaining cost of the land will be financed by Quabit Inmobiliaria through newly issued shares as the result of the capital increase that has already been approved by the General Shareholders’ Meeting.

Upwards review of the Business Plan 2017-2022

This new financing line from Avenue forms part of the financing arrangement for new investments set out in the Business Plan that the company has just updated to reflect the intense investment effort that it has undertaken in 2017. Quabit now has a land portfolio spanning almost 1 million m2 and it has put several residential developments on the market.

The company chaired by Félix Abánades has revised upwards its growth and expansion plan in such a way that it has almost doubled (92%) the objective for the number of new homes it expects to build between now and 2022, to 7,888 units, from the 4,100 units estimated initially.

“Since March, we have managed to close land operations amounting to almost €150 million, for less than initially forecast, thanks to the management expertise of the entire team. That gives us great visibility over our business plan and, in turn, allows us to extend our projections until 2022, which is when we will reach our cruising speed, with the hand over of 3,000 homes per year”, explains the President.

This investment effort and the launch of new developments will allow the company to exceed the revenue and profit forecasts it made in January by 20%. The company has designed an ambitious land acquisition plan, which will see it invest €673 million. The forecasts indicate that the firm will record revenues of €1.915 billion, generate operating cash flow of €463 million and distribute €87 million in cash dividends between now and 2022.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Revises Upwards Its Business Plan: 7,880 Homes By 2022

20 November 2017 – Eje Prime

The property developer Quabit is optimistic about its future. The company has reviewed upwards its business plan for 2017-2021, in such a way that it has almost doubled the objective for the number of new homes that it plans to construct during the period. It now plans to build 7,880 units, up from 4,100 estimated initially, according to a statement filed with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The company, which is controlled and chaired by Félix Abánades, has increased its forecasts after securing new lines of financing and buying land for lower prices than initially forecast, and in light of the predictions for the continuous improvement and recovery of the real estate sector in Spain.

So far this year, Quabit has purchased land amounting to almost €150 million, and as such, the firm currently owns a land portfolio spanning almost 1 million m2, which, it says, already guarantees the construction of 6,720 new homes.

The latest plots have been acquired through a mixed payment system, which includes resources raised from an investment fund and shares in the company. To this end, its Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting has just approved a series of capital increases.

For the time being, the property developer currently has 18 developments under construction and/or for sale, comprising around 1,655 homes.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Approves €110M Capital Increase To Finance Land Purchases

17 November 2017 – Expansión

On Wednesday, Quabit, the shareholders of the property developer chaired by Félix Abánades, approved several capital increases amounting to more than €110 million, which will be used to finance the purchase of land in Málaga, Costa del Sol, the Balearic Islands and the Corredor del Henares.

The purchase of these plots will be financed primarily by a line of credit amounting to €40 million, agreed with Avenue Capital Group, and by the delivery of new shares in Quabit issued at a price of €2 per share, which will represent a 27% increase in the company’s share capital. To this end, it will increase its share capital through non-monetary contributions amounting to €41.8 million, through the issue of approximately 20.9 million new shares.

Similarly, the shareholders of Quabit approved another monetary capital increase amounting to €70 million to prevent/avoid the dilutive impact of the non-monetary expansions. This increase will be completed through the issue and placement into circulation of 35 million new ordinary shares also with a maximum value of €2, recognising the preferential subscription right for all shareholders.

“The full subscription of all of the capital increases will result in the inflow of approximately €105 million and the strengthening of Quabit’s own funds, which will undoubtedly help to boost growth and to generate value for shareholders over the medium term”, explained the President, Félix Abánades.

The director added that the property developer currently has 18 developments under construction with 1,655 homes up for sale, and is working on the commercial launch of another five developments: “We will finish the year with around 2,100 homes on the market”.

According to Abánades, with all of these land operations and the portfolio of assets already owned by the company, Quabit will own almost 1 million m2 of land for the development of more than 6,700 homes. 70% of those properties will be handed over between 2017 and 2021.

The most recent acquisitions include a portfolio comprising developable land in Corredor del Henares, owned by Grupo Rayet – the main shareholder of Quabit – with a joint investment of €30 million and a buildable surface area of 131,000 m2 for the construction of 970 homes. These plots are located next to land in Alovera (Guadalajara), where Grupo Rayet is planning to build Alovera Beach, a leisure park that will soon be home to the largest artificial urban beach in Europe.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake