Tag: Gecina

Témpore Properties Appoints Directors & Finalises its IPO

6 March 2018 – Expansión

Témpore Properties, the Socimi created by Sareb, has started the countdown to its debut on the stock market. It will make the leap within the next few weeks, possibly before Easter, once the bureaucratic procedures have been completed. It will list on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), like the vast majority of the 50 Socimis whose shares already trade on the stock market.

The company has been created with a selection of 1,500 assets, of which 1,383 are urban residential properties that generate returns of 3% per annum. The remainder are storerooms and garages. The combined value of the assets amounts to €175 million. Témpore’s size places it in the low-medium bracket in the sector, excluding Socimis backed by family capital. Its perimeter may be increased depending on the needs of Sareb, which has been backing property development in recent times. “Other Socimis do not have that option”, explain sources at the bad bank.

Azora is the manager of the Socimi and Renta 4 and Clifford Chance are advising the IPO process.

Yesterday, the Board of Témpore Properties held its first meeting after approving agreements relating to the entity’s internal operation and the listing process. The Socimi is chaired by Juan Ramón Dios Rial, Director of Real Estate Development and Promotion at Sareb. During the course of his career, Mr Dios has held various positions at TSB Bank, Citigroup, General Electric Capital Bank and Barclays España.

The Board of Directors comprises five members: three independent directors, one executive director and one proprietary director. They are Juan Ramón Dios, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, Socorro Fernández, Rafael de Mena and Galo Juan Sastre.

Appointments

Témpore Properties is going to be led by Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, who has been the Director of Rental Mangement at Sareb until now. He will serve as the CEO and will sit on the Board as an executive director. Previously, he worked at BBVA, was Director of the International Team at Metrovacesa and CEO of the French Socimi Gecina. The company’s Finance Director is going to be Pelayo Barriga, who has been performing the same role at Sareb until now.

With Témpore Properties, the managers of Sareb are intending to open a window into the rental market, which is proving more profitable than property sales in certain segments. Moreover, through this route, the bad bank is going to be able to access new private capital and slightly reduce its high level of indebtedness.

By law, Socimis are obliged to remunerate their shareholders, and so Sareb can expect to receive dividends from Témpore.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Lander)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Ruggieri Family Buys Eurosic’s Spanish Socimi

18 October 2017 – El Confidencial

One of the wealthiest families in France has set its sights on Spain’s tourism market. The Ruggieri family, owner of the Batipart Group, reached an agreement in August with the also French firm Eurosic to purchase the Socimi that that firm had created in Spain, and has now renamed the entity Elaia Investment Spain.

After taking over 66% of the vehicle, Batipart has put all of the wheels in motion to enable the company to make its debut on the stock market before the end of the year, just like its previous owner had planned.

In this new business venture, Ruggieri is accompanied by Euler Hermès, owner of 13.81% of the Socimi; Allianz Invest Pierra, owner of another 9.21%; and around twenty individual investors who own the remainder of the share capital.

Elaia owns twelve real estate assets in Spain, primarily hotels and tourist apartments, although it also owns two residential properties in Madrid, on the centric streets Bailén and Atocha.

The Socimi focuses on three-and four-star category hotels and on taking advantage of the boom in tourist apartments. It owns two assets of each type in Mallorca and a hotel and two apartment blocks in Málaga, whilst, in Cataluña, it owns a hotel in Roses (Gerona), one tourist rental building in Barcelona and another in Estartir (Gerona).

In total, the Socimi has invested €145 million so far acquiring its portfolio, although its objective is to reach €280 million. To that end, it is currently holding talks with various investors, whose contributions will range between €10 million and €30 million.

When it debuts on the MAB, Elaia expects to have a market capitalisation of €120 million, a figure that will make it one of the largest Socimis on the market. The company will be managed by Elaia Management Spain, a subsidiary of Batipart, and the plan is to undertake some of its expansion together with Pierre & Vacances, its main partner in Spain.

The Socimi’s roadmap foresees it continuing with its intense asset acquisition policy for the next year or so, before spending the following two years repositioning those assets. The divestment phase is expected to be activated from 2021 onwards and that strategy is expected to be carried out on an asset by asset basis, culminating in 2024, with a forecast rate of return (IRR) of 15%.

Eurosic-Gecina’s heritage

The Batipart Group was founded in 1988 by Charles Ruggieri, who was born in Italy but who settled in France many years ago, where he is one of the top 100 wealthiest people in the country, with a net worth of around €900 million. A historical shareholder of Eurosic, in June, he agreed to sell his 24% in the real estate company to Gecina, in exchange for taking ownership of all of the leisure, health and hotel assets in the portfolio, including Elaia, worth €463 million in total.

That agreement was signed on 29 August, which is when Batipart took control of the Spanish Socimi. Moreover, the group owned by the Ruggieri family also has a presence in the nursing home sector, through the Korian Group, and it owns six hotels in Africa.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sevilla’s Chamber Of Commerce Sells 2 Plots Of Land To Rivero Family

30 November 2016 – Real Estate Press

The Chamber of Commerce in Sevilla has recently completed the sale of a portion of land at the Antares Club, where a hotel is going to be constructed, as well as a plot of land next to Eusa, where a hall of residence for university students is going to be built. The buyer of both assets is the Rivero family.

Initially, the Chamber of Commerce’s conversations began with Joaquín Rivero Valcarce, the Jerez-born businessman who used to chair Bami and who led the merger with Metrovacesa and Gecina. Following the death of the businessman in September, his only daughter, Helena Rivera, decided to push ahead with the operation and subsequently completed the negotiations that her father had begun.

The total price for the acquisition of both plots of land amounts to around €7.5 million. The largest investment relates to the Antares hotel. The plot covers a surface area measuring 1,700 m2, allocated for tertiary use, which includes the current exhibition hall, the Spica hall, the unique sloping auditorium, as well as a section for squash courts and a space that is currently used as a car park. The amount of this acquisition is estimated to have reached €4.5 million. This plot of land has a buildable surface area of 6,000 m2, where a hotel containing around 100 rooms may be built.

In the case of Eusa, the plan is to construct a hall of residence for students, given that, as well as being located next to the Chamber of Commerce’s own training centre, the site will also be close to the Law and Business faculties and with good transport connections to the University of Pablo de Olavide. The company managed by Helena Rivero has invested €3 million on this plot of land, which may be used for educational purposes and whose buildable surface area amounts to 9,000 m2.

The Chamber of Commerce has declined to make any comments on the details of the operation, given that the negotiations are subject to confidentiality clauses. Nevertheless, the sources consulted say that the sale has gone ahead and has received the necessary approvals from the Chamber of Commerce and the Junta de Andalucía.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

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

Santander Appoints Echenique To Lead Metrovacesa

7 May 2015 – Expansión

The Vice-President of the financial institution will take over the reins at the real estate company, after the bank increased its shareholding in the group, which has cut its debt in half in recent months.

A new President for a new era. That is the decision that has been taken by the four banks that own the real estate company Metrovacesa. Santander, BBVA, Sabadell, and Popular have decided to place the reins of the company in the hands of Rodrigo Echenique (pictured above), the Vice-President of the bank chaired by Ana Botín and President of the NH Hotel Group.

The appointment of Echenique as a non-executive director comes barely two weeks after the company held its annual shareholders’ meeting, which approved the appointment of four new directors, including Echenique. Abel Matutes and Juan Ignacio Ruiz de Alda also joined the management board, as representatives of Banco Santander, and Manuel Castro, from BBVA.

Rodrigo Echenique (Madrid, 1946) holds a degree in Law from the University of Complutense in Madrid and is a non-practising State Attorney. He has been CEO of Santander and is currently a member of the group’s board of directors and executive committees, as well as the Vice-President. Moreover, he is the President of the NH Hotel Group and a director of Inditex. He has also served as President of Vocento.

In his new role, Echenique replaces Ignacio Moreno, who will continue to perform executive duties as CEO, after less than three years as President. Meanwhile, Carlos García León, who served as CEO until now, will continue his duties as managing director.

Capital injection

The appointment of the new President comes just days after Metrovacesca’s shareholders approved the capitalisation of debt amounting to €751 million and five months after Santander acquired the 19% stake that Bankia owned in the real estate company.

Following the two operations, Santander has strengthened its position as the primary shareholder in Metrovacesa, which it first entered in 2011 along with five other entities; it currently owns 58.67% of the share capital. It is followed by BBVA with a 19.42% stake and Banco Sabadell, with 13.83%. In January, the three banks granted a loan to the real estate company amounting to €751 million to allow it to cancel tranche B of its syndicated loan early; in April this loan was capitalised. The other major shareholder, Banco Popular, did not participate in the transaction and holds 7.99% of the capital.

The capitalisation of this loan, together with the sale of its 26.9% stake in the French real estate company Gecina, has allowed Metrovacesa to significantly reduce its debt, down from a liability of €4,999 million in 2013 to net financial debt of €3,285 million at the end of 2014.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa Approves Capitalisation Of €751M Loan

29 April 2015 – Expansión

The real estate company Metrovacesa, owned by Santander, BBVA, Sabadell and Popular, received the green light from its shareholders yesterday to convert a €751 million loan granted by three of its owner banks into equity.

Santander, the primary shareholder in Metrovacesa, which holds a 55.89% stake after it took over Bankia’s shareholding; BBVA, which owns 18.3%; and Sabadell, which owns 13.04%, granted a loan to the real estate company for €751 million in January. Now, the three banks have converted the refinanced loan into shares through this increase. Thanks to this transaction and the sale of its stake in Gecina, Metrovacesa has reduced its debt to €2,409 million, compared with the balance of more than €5,000 million that it accumulated last year.

In parallel to this transaction, a further increase has been agreed, through monetary contributions and pre-emptive subscription rights, for €0.9 million, aimed at minority shareholders.

At their meeting, the shareholders also approved the appointment of four new directors, which means that the management body will comprise 11 members. The new appointments include Rodrigo Echenique, Abel Matutes and Juan Ignacio Ruiz de Alda, representing Banco Santander and Manuel Castro, from BBVA.

Metrovacesa also approved its accounts for 2014. The real estate company reduced its losses by 50% taking its consolidated loss to €186 million compared to €349 million in 2013, according to sources close to the company. Meanwhile, the parent company recorded a loss of €21.6 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

What Has Become Of The Property Kings?

23 April 2015 – Expansión

The individuals that owned the large real estate companies during the boom years have suffered from sharp drops in sales and in the value of their assets. The largest has filed for bankruptcy and is now at the mercy of its creditors.

The largest land owner in Spain. The largest real estate company in Europe. Those are some of the descriptions that were used to refer to the large Spanish real estate companies almost a decade ago. At their respective helms were businessmen such as Luis Portillo, Rafael Santamaría and Joaquín Rivero (pictured above, left). As such, they were some of the hardest hit by the burst of the real estate bubble in 2007. After generating revenues of hundreds of millions of euros from the sale of homes, these companies and their managers were unable to cope with the high levels of indebtedness that they had accumulated during the boom years, and so found themselves in precarious situations.

But they are not the only ones who suffered from the effects of the sudden change in the sector. Rivero, a businessman from Jerez, is still dealing with the consequences of his stint at Metrovacesa, fighting a hard battle in the courts against his former partner, Román Sanahuja (pictured above, right), regarding the separation process that resulted in Rivero ending up with Gecina and his former partner with Metrovacesa. Sanahuja’s inability to pay the debts of his family business, Sacresa, meant that he lost control of Metrovacesa to the banks in 2010.

Another company that grew from strength to strength during the boom was Afirma (now Quabit). The company was created from the merger of the former entity Astroc, controlled by Enrique Bañeulos, Landscape and Rayet, a company led by Félix Abánades. After various refinancing processes, the businessman from La Alcarria managed to move forward with the listed real estate company Quabit. However, the same thing did not happen with its parent company, the construction group Rayet, which is now trying to exit from its bankruptcy process.

Francisco Hernando, known as El Pocero, was another one of the most well-known developers. Hernando developed a residential estate in the town of Seseña (Toledo), where he was planning to construct more than 15,000 homes. In the end, just under 5,000 homes were built; 3,000 of those ended up in the hands of the creditor bank as Hernando was unable to pay his debts.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa To Capitalise €730M To Reduce Its Debt

6 April 2015 – Expansión

Metrovacesa is continuing its debt reduction process. After generating income of €1,546 million from (the sale of) its 27% stake in Gecina last summer, the real estate company will propose a capital increase of almost €730 million at its next shareholders’ meeting.

The aim of the capital increase is to convert some of the group’s liabilities into shares, according to an announcement made by the real estate company regarding the agenda for its general shareholders’ meeting. At the meeting, which will take place on 28 April at its headquarters in Las Tablas (Madrid), the leaders of the real estate company will present the results for 2014. In 2013, the most recent year for which figures have been presented, Metrovacesa recorded losses of €349 million, i.e. 29% more than in the previous year.

In that year, the group’s financial debt exceeded €5,088 million, a liability that it has managed to reduce following the sale of its stake in the French real estate company Gecina. In June, Metrovacesa agreed the sale of its 26.7% stake in the French company to Norges Bank, Crédit Agricole, Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge for €1,546 million. These funds were mainly used to repay a syndicated loan amounting to €1,600 million.

The debt for equity exchange will be accompanied by a capital increase through a cash contribution, with preferential subscription rights. The objective is to allow the 4,000 smaller shareholders to maintain their minority stakes, if they so wish, without any dilution of their ownership.

The main shareholder of Metrovacesa is the Santander group. The financial entity holds 55.8% of the (real estate company’s) capital, after it acquired the 19% stake that Bankia held in December (2014). Santander paid €100 million in that transaction.

The bank, chaired by Ana Botín, first invested in Metrovacesa’s share capital in 2008, when the real estate company was unable to pay its debts to its then largest shareholder, Román Sanahuja. Other banks also participated in that transaction (and still hold stakes today), namely: BBVA, which holds a 18.31% stake; Sabadell, which holds a 13.04% stake; and Popular, which owns 12.64%.

In 2013, these entities approved the de-listing of the real estate company from the stock exchange and, since then, they have focused on restructuring the debt.

New directors

At the shareholders’ meeting, Metrovacesa will also propose the appointment of four new directors: Rodrigo Echenique, Vice-President and Executive Director of Santander; Abel Matutes, Chairman of the Matutues business group; Juan Ignacio Ruiz de Alda, Director at Santander; and Manuel Castro; Director of Global Risk Management at BBVA.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bami Newco Files For Voluntary Liquidation

30 January 2015 – Inmodiario

Bami Newco, the real estate company controlled by Joaquín Rivero, which filed for bankruptcy in mid-2013, has now filed for liquidation, according to a ruling issued by the Commercial Court number 2 in Madrid. The company, which has debts of €652 million, proposed its liquidation under the Bankruptcy Law, after it was unable to reach a refinancing agreement with its lender banks.

Bami holds assets amounting to €726 million to meet its liabilities, according to a report published by the insolvency administrator in mid-2014.

The company was founded in 2007 after exiting Metrovacesa’s share capital, a real estate company in which Bami become the controlling shareholder following the takeover it launched in 2004.

The new real estate company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after, at the end of 2012, Rivero and the Soler family also declared bankrupt the companies through which they channelled the stakes (16.6% and 15.6%, respectively) they then held in the French real estate company Gecina. In 2013, they sold the debt linked to those investments, which were guaranteed by Gecina’s own shares, to the funds Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge.

The company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after failing to reach a long-term refinancing agreement with its bank syndicate that would have given it the financial stability necessary to continue its activity.

The company has a portfolio of office buildings located in the North of Madrid, totalling 127,500 square metres, with an average occupancy rate of 90%, backed by long-term contracts with highly solvent clients, including several Ibex 35 companies. Moreover, the company had plans to construct two buildings in the “Adequa” business park, which would have resulted in an additional 27,000 sqm.

Bami closed 2012 with a loss of €15 million, as a result of the cancelation of its derivative hedges and the impairment loss it recorded on buildings that had not yet become operational.

Despite having paid the interest on its debt on a timely basis since its constitution, and although most of its debts were due to mature this year, the real estate company decided that filing for bankruptcy was essential, since without long-term, stable financing, the business will be unable to develop its property portfolio and carry out its projects.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gecina Sells BMW Offices In Madrid For €41m

26 January 2015 – Invertia

The French real estate company Gecina has finalized the sale of an office building in Madrid (Avenida de Burgos) to a SOCIMI managed by IBA Capital Partners.

Gecina was advised by Resource Capital Partners, Jones Lang Lasalle, CBRE and law firm Almagro.

Original story: Invertia

Edited by: Carmel Drake