Amundi Acquires Co-Working Project from Conren Tramway for €55 Million

25 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Amundi, a major French asset manager, acquired an office building under development at Calle Sancho de Ávila, 65, in Barcelona’s @22. The firm paid Conren Tramway 56 million euros for the building, which is still under construction.  The building, however, has already been fully leased by Wojo, a French co-working firm owned by Accor.

The 7-floor building will have 8,300 square meters of surface area, parking facilities, storerooms, changing rooms and a rooftop terrace. Conren Tramway recently signed a leasing agreement whereby the Wojo will take over the property at a rate of  22.3 euros per square meter per month

Amundi’s operations in Spain began last year with its acquisition of the Portico building, in Madrid’s Campo de las Naciones, for approximately 130 million euros.

Original Story: Expansión – Marisa Anglés

 

Corestate to Invest €25 Million to Build New Student Residence in Salamanca

20 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Corestate Capital Holding, an investment fund based in Luxembourg, will invest 25 million euros to develop a student residence on Calle Santiago Diego Madrazo, next to the University of Salamanca.

The property will have a net leasable area of 4,000 square meters, including 258 flats and 301 beds. The building will also have several common areas such as a TV room, gym and terrace, along with 74 parking spaces.

Original Story: Eje Prime – Marta Casado Pla

The Sometimes Overrated Boom of Spain’s Socimis

20 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

BME and JLL recently presented a study of the state of Spain’s 73 socimis. From 2016 to 2018, a total of 54 socimis, 70% of the current total, debuted on the market. Last year, those same socimis paid an average dividend yield of 3.8%. The firms distributed €879 million in dividends in 2018, up from €581 million in 2017, +51.4% year-on-year.

While the total stock market capitalisation of the socimis increased by 19.6% last year, compared to the IBEX 35’s fall of 15%, the Spanish market is still relatively small compared to the rest of Europe.  Only four of the socimis listed on the continuous market. The Spanish market ranks fourth out of eleven, behind the United Kingdom, France and Holland. Moreover, while Spain accounts for 31.5% of the total number of socimis in the EU, their assets represent just 12% (26.740 billion dollars at the end of March). The average socimi in Spain is valued at 371 million dollars; compared to €1.371 billion in the United Kingdom; €1.99 billion in France and a whopping €5.35 billion in the Netherlands.

Foreigners also accounted for the lion’s share of investment in Spanish socimis. According to the study, 75% of the investment in the office sector came from outside of the country, 85% of that in logistics and 80% of the investment in retail.

Original Story: ABC Inmobiliário

Berkshire Hathaway Teams Up With Larvia to Enter Spain’s Real Estate Brokerage Market

16 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the largest real estate brokerage in the United States, will form a joint venture with Larvia’s Petrus brokerage in an attempt to replicate its success in the US.  The American firm followed its usual strategy of teaming up with a local company with in-depth knowledge of the market.

Berkshire will focus on the upper-end of the market, with flats in Madrid costing at least 600,000 and single-family homes above €2 million. The new company will also focus on homes in areas nearby golf courses, in central Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary and Balearic Islands. Larvia’s existing network of offices in Madrid and Barcelona will start off as a basis for the new partnership, with plans to double or triple their presence in Spain by early 2021.

Original Story: Expansión

 

Axa Sells Eight Buildings in Barcelona to Germany’s KanAm Grund for €100 Million

14 July 2019

A major German investment fund, KanAm Grund, has acquired eight buildings in Barcelona, in a deal reportedly worth 100 million euros. All are currently leased to the Catalonian government.

The seller, the French investment giant Axa IMRA, originally acquired the assets, together with another five buildings, from the Catalonian government in 2013 for €172 million. At the time, Spain was still mired in the real estate and financial crisis and the sale had been the cash-strapped administration’s second attempt to offload the assets. As part of the agreement, the Catalonian government agreed to remain in the properties for twenty years.

The buildings included in the deal consist of the Conselleria de Justícia, on Calle Pau Claris; the Citizen Service Office on Calle Carrera; the General Subdirectorate for Initial Employment Authorizations, on Calle Puig i Xoriguer and the headquarters of the Institut Català de les Dones (ICD), on Plaza Pere Coromines. The remaining buildings include the headquarters of the Institut Obert de Catalunya, on Avenida Parallel, the Territorial Judicial Archive of Barcelona, on Calle Roger de Flor, the headquarters of the General Directorate for Language Policy, on the Portal de Santa Madrona and the Employment Office on Calle Doctor Joaquim Pou.

Axa retained five of the larger assets in the portfolio: the offices of the Conselleria de Justícia and the headquarters of the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya, both on Calle Aragón; the Conselleria de Enseñanza, on Via Augusta, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Natural Environment, on the Gran Vía, among others.

Original Story: El Confidencial – E. Sanz / M. Lamelas

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Sabadell Opts to Sell Subsidiary to Oaktree

1 July 2019

Banco Sabadell, a Catalan bank, has opted to sell its developer, Sabadell Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, to the U.S.-fund Oaktree in a transaction reportedly worth 850 million euros. The asset management firm beat out its main rival for the asset, a partnership made up of Cerberus and Kronos.

Sabadell and Oaktree will now negotiate any additional particulars to the agreement. The sale would bring in a windfall for the Catalan bank, strengthening its capital ratio while reducing its risk-weighted assets (RWA).

Oaktree, in turn, will now compete with Neinor, Metrovacesa, Aedas, Via Célere and others. The developer’s holdings include high-quality, developable lands to the north of Madrid and in Barcelona.  Two thirds of the land is ready to develop or already under construction.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Jorge Zuloaga

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

 

doValue Finalises Acquisition of 85% of Altamira for €360MM

28 June 2019

doValue, the Italian NPL specialist, acquired 85% of Altamira Asset Management from firms controlled by Apollo Global Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The Italian firm paid 360 million euros.

The operation had been originally announced in December. doValue finalised the acquisition this month after Banco Santander decided not to exercise its tag-along rights, maintaining its 15% stake. DoValue had offered to acquire 100% of the firm.

After the acquisition, DoValue will have €130 billion in assets under management.

Original Story: EjePrime

Vivenio and Aquila Capital sign asset management agreement for Spanish real estate portfolio

4 October 2018

Aquila Capital, a Hamburg-based investment manager, has signed an agreement with Vivenio, a real estate investment trust (REIT) managed by APG and Renta Corporación, for asset management services for a residential portfolio in Spain.

The agreement covers property monitoring, letting management, finance and budget controlling, business reporting, cash management and general administration for a portfolio of over EUR200M and nearly 1,100 housing units.

The units, being developed by AQ Acentor, Aquila Capital’s real estate developer in Spain, are in Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga. They include both subsidised and private housing units at various stages of construction that will be transferred progressively up to 2021.

The developments in Madrid consist of four residential complexes in the district of Villaverde and will contain more than 500 subsidised rental housing units with a 15-year lease. The Barcelona complex, located in the municipality of Sant Adrià del Besòs, will have more than 100 rental housing units. The Málaga development will consist of five complexes with a total of more than 400 rental housing units.

All the developments will have common areas and additional facilities to improve the quality of life for the residents, including co-working spaces, pools, gyms and other such amenities.

This is Vivenio’s first turnkey project and it secures an important medium- and long-term portfolio for the REIT. It also broadens Vivenio’s social and private housing proposition, underlining its leading role in the sector. Furthermore, it marks the entry of Renta Corporación and APG’s REIT to the Andalusia market, having previously performed the bulk of its operations in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca.

This latest transaction means that Vivenio, which benefits from Renta Corporación’s extensive experience in the Spanish residential market, has now invested more than EUR650 million since its launch and will manage more than 2,900 housing units by 2021.

José María Cervera, Corporate General Manager of Renta Corporación, says: “This transaction will greatly expand our portfolio and signifies both our first turnkey investment and entry to new geographical areas. It also marks a major step forward in Vivenio’s growth and investment strategy, which will lead to more acquisitions that will be formalised over the coming months.”

Aquila Capital operates independently as a developer in the Spanish market through its brand AQ Acentor. The residential projects include subsidised and private housing units in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Valencia. AQ Acentor is one of the largest developers of residential land in Spain and one of the few aimed at institutional investors.

“The Spanish real estate market is highly attractive to institutional investors and offers above-average profitability, especially new construction. This is further supported by a growing rent culture and stable economic growth. We are aware that there is an increasing number of investors following us into this interesting market and are convinced that our extensive experience and local presence is key to be successful in this market,” says Sven Schoel, CEO of AQ Acentor.

Property Funds World

 

BBVA: FDI Rose By 13% In H1 2016 & Focused On RE Sector

16 September 2016 – Expansión

According to a report from the BBVA Foundation – Ivie, until 2015, growth in foreign investment focused more on the purchase of debt instruments and share capital (portfolio investments) than on direct investments (involving the purchase of more than 10% of the capital of a company). “By contrast, during the first half of the year, portfolio investments have decreased and direct investment has recovered (by 13%)”, according to the document.

In general, foreign investment has a high correlation with the economic environment and in Spain (investment decreased from €58,128 million in 2009 to -€44,900 million and -€32,455 million in 2011 and 2012, respectively) there was a slight recovery as the economy emerged from the recession. Thus, in 2015, foreign investment was 2.6 times higher than at the start of the crisis, in 2008.

Composition of investment

By type of investment, direct foreign investment has varied significantly in terms of its sector composition. In this way, it is worth highlighting “the increase in investment in real estate activities since 2012, which accounted for 12.9% of total foreign investment in 2012 and had increased to 27.1% by March 2016”. The recovery in terms of investment in the construction sector is also noteworthy, above all in 2015, when it accounted for 20.2% of the total, although that figure had decreased to 16.1% by March 2016. “Based on the data for 2015, real estate investment (in the broadest sense) accounted for a third of the total (€7,700 million), up by 62% compared with a year earlier and 4.4 times higher than in 2008”.

According to the BBVA Foundation-Ivie, the fact that the increase has taken place in H1 2016 is good news, “although the growing orientation towards real estate activities weakens the contribution to productivity gains that the Spanish economy (so desparately) needs”.

It is important to take into account that portfolio investments are more volatile and sensitive to the economic cycle. Meanwhile, although direct investment is less important in terms of the productive investment of a country, it has significant qualitative features: it helps stimulate certain production sectors, increasing internationalisation and technological levels; it focuses on sectors with more human capital and it is very important for increasing productivity.

Original story: Expansión (by M.G.M.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Hotel Industry Warns That A Moratorium Could Discourage Investment In Madrid

13 February 2016 – Expansion

City occupancy Level audit ordered by the mayoress, Manuela Carmena, threatens to jeopardize the recovery of the sector and drive away investors.


The hotel industry stands up for the potential of Madrid as a tourist destination and warns that if the occupation audit ordered a few days ago by the city council derives in a moratorium, it will drive away foreign investment.

The industry welcomes the initiative of the Mayoress, Manuela Carmena, provided it is addressed to make sense of hotel supply growth, which is experiencing a boom of new projects in the last months after several years in dry dock. 
This is precisely what chains and investors reproached Ada Colau, its counterpart in Barcelona, when she decreed the suspension of ongoing projects last summer.
But if the audit is a prior step towards a moratorium similar to that of Barcelona, the opinion is also unanimous. It will suddenly dissipate the interest of domestic and foreign investors after a record year in which Madrid beats Barcelona as top destination in the urban segment, with EUR 589 million in transactions. 
This interest is still held at the start of 2016 although investment growth usually lowers in the first months of the year “Madrid is still a preferred investment objective, ahead of Malaga, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Barcelona, where having a hotel means having a treasure, but behind holidays hotels, where there is a genuine investment fever,” says Miguel Vazquez, partner in charge of hotels at Irea consulting company. “The investment market is not as it ended in 2015 but not for a lack of interest, but lack of product,” agrees Inmaculada Ranera, CEO of Christie & Co. However, there are factors that cast uncertainty. On the one hand, the political context and the formation of the new government. And, secondly, the give and take between the city of Madrid and Dalian Wanda on the rehabilitation of Edificio España.

In the sector they suggest that the decision of the Chinese investor, who has hired JLL to find a buyer for the property, could not be definitive but a simple negotiating tactic, although they admit it has created legal uncertainty. 
At the moment, the risk is limited and most investors are still looking for good deals, although more carefully. The roadmap established by Carmena and her team once the report on their hands could nonetheless reverse this situation. In the sector it is believed that a moratorium would paralyze the recovery of Madrid as a destination. And above all, they argue that it would be an illogical measure. 
”Colau had it on her political program, but Carmena did not have it”, said Miguel Casas, Head of CBRE Hotels. 
Madrid – hotel company heads say, does not have the pressure suffered by Barcelona due to the boom in tourist apartments and what it needs is more international visitors. In Barcelona these represent 80% of the total; in Madrid, they are below 50% -. According to Luis Arsuaga, executive vice president of JLL Hotels, “if revenues per room or tariffs came down, it would make sense to think about it but, on the contrary, the occupation is getting better and better.” 
Regulation

In this line, say hotel companies, more hotel space and foreign brands, a coordinated tourism promotion between City Hall and Community and – above all, the illegal supply to be regulated and not to limit the private sector is what is really needed. According to Irea, there are 22 ongoing projects totaling 6,000 hotel places and an economic impact of EUR 145 millioN which could be affected by a sudden moratorium like that of Barcelona. Among them, for example, projects to convert the former headquarters of Caja Madrid and the building that houses Café Berlin into a hotel; or the expansion of Asturias Hotel. 
Moreover, according to these estimates, each hotel place in Madrid generates 24,155 direct and indirect Euros and 22 jobs are created per 100 spaces. Since 2008, the number of stays increased by 2.5 million, which has resulted in an impact of EUR 380 million. 
Apart from the withdrawal of the investment, a moratorium would “create a bubble like the one Barcelona is living, soaring the value of operating hotels and tourist accommodation,” says Bruno Hallé, Magma HC partner.

Original story: Expansion (by Yovanna Blanco)

Translation: Aura Ree