Marco Aldany Founder Seeks Financial Partner for his Coliving Business

26 February 2019 – Idealista

(…). One of the founders of the chain of hairdressers Marco Aldany is strengthening his commitment to the real estate sector and, following the success of his student residence business, MiCasaInn, is raising the stakes with a search for financial partners to develop a coliving company in Madrid. According to explanations provided by Alejandro Fernández-Luengo to Idealista, the company already has three buildings in the centre of the capital that it could dedicate to this segment, although it wants a financial partner to help its growth across the rest of Spain.

This new venture into the coliving sector will arrive in the form of a spin-off. “After positioning ourselves as one of the main companies specialising in students housing in Spain through MiCasaInn, we believe that the natural step is to pilot a project for young people who have finished studying and who are joining the work place, so that they can continue with us”, said Fernández-Luengo.

Currently, the company has a portfolio of assets in which it has invested more than €50 million, in the hope of launching this project. It has one building in Plaza de Canalejas, measuring 4,500 m2, another in Puerta del Sol, spanning 7,000 m2 and a third in Chueca, which could become the group’s first coliving spaces once its new brand has been launched (…).

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Chain B&B Opens 4 Hotels In Spain

8 July 2016 – Expansión

The French hotel chain B&B, one of the largest in Europe with a network of 321 establishments and annual revenues of €344 million, has started to expand its business into Spain. A few months ago, it opened its first four hotels here, all of which used to be owned by the Holiday Inn, in Valencia, Madrid, Alicante and Gerona, for a total investment of €14 million. It plans to open at least four hotels a year between now and 2020, with an average investment of around €5 million per property, which represents a total investment of approximately €80 million over the period.

The next hotel opening will be in Vigo, planned for December. B&B, which was acquired by PAI Partners in December, is establishing itself under two systems: the construction of buildings and the acquisition of existing hotels. The four Spanish hotels, which used to house Holiday Inns, were acquired and then transferred to the firm Foncier des Murs, owned by the Crédit Agricole group, which is the company’s financial partner for these types of investments and which itself owns 250 hotels that B&B operates.

The hotel in Vigo will follow the same pattern; meanwhile the company is looking for other opportunities to buy and construct hotels. The Director of B&B in Spain, Dennis Darrien, explained that the company has plans to construct one hotel in Barcelona, in the 22@ district, but that those plans are on hold due to the hotel moratorium established by the Town Hall.

The company is looking for hotels with between 80 and 150 rooms, in good locations.

B&B was created in 1990, as a chain for business travellers in France – where it now has 250 hotels, some of which it owns and others which it leases – with low cost prices. The CEO of the Group, George Sampeur, explained that in Spain they will also target the tourist market, given the nature of the country.

The company has eighty hotels in Germany, twenty-three in Italy, three in Poland, one in the Czech Republic and another in Morocco. It plans to expand to Latin America by opening its first hotel in Brazil, in Sao Paulo, before continuing to Curitiba and other areas in the south of the country.

In total, according to its business plan, B&B plans to open thirty hotels a year between now and 2020.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Brines)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Intu Will Invest €425m In Its Shopping Centre In Málaga

2 March 2015 – Expansión

The British company Intu Properties confirmed yesterday that it plans to invest €425 million in the construction of a new shopping centre in Málaga, as part of its plan to create a large network of leisure and retail complexes in Spain.

In March, as a preliminary step, the group is going to ask its shareholders to approve the purchase of land close to Torremolinos for €42.1 million, where it will build the centre, which will have a gross leasable area of 175,000 square metres. The shopping centre is expected to open in 2018.

Since 2013, Intu has acquired two operational shopping centres in Spain: Parque Principado (in which the Canadian fund CPPIB holds a 50% stake) in Asturias, for €162 million and Puerto Venecia, in Zaragoza, for €451 million.

As well as the project in Málaga, the company is also considering developing centres in Valencia, Vigo and Palma de Mallorca. It expects to make its largest investment in the Oceania de Valencia complex, which could amount to €750 million.

In its results for 2014, Intu increased the valuation of its 50% stake in Parque Principiado from €81 million to €106 million. The firm is now looking for a financial partner for Puerto Venecia.

Original story: Expansión (by Roberto Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake