Tag: GIC

Singapore’s GIC to Sell Portfolio of Logistics Assets

4 January 2020 – GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has mandated JLL to launch the sale of a €100-million portfolio of logistics assets owned by its subsidiary in Spain, P3 Logistics.

The portfolio contains one-third of P3 Spain Logistic Parks’ assets of approximately €270 million. The socimi is currently listed on the MAB, with a market cap of 30.7 million euros.

GIC, el fondo soberano de Singapur ordenó a JLL lanzar la venta de una cartera de activos logísticos de 100 millones de euros, propiedad de su filial en España, P3 Logistics.

La cartera contiene un tercio de los activos pertenecientes a P3 Spain Logistic Parks, un total de aproximadamente €270 millones. La socimi actualmente cotiza en el MAB, con una capitalización de mercado de 30,7 millones de euros.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Ruth Ugalde

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Asian Funds Seek Local Allies to Enter Spanish Real Estate Sector

19 January 2019 – Expansión

Asian investors are joining forces with firms such as UBS, AXA and Savills IM to gain weight in the office, logistics and retail segments, where they still have a limited presence.

Spain has become a key destination for international investors interested in real estate assets, and Asian capital is no stranger to this buying fever that has boosted the sector in the country over the last five years. These investors, who are used to large volume operations, are now trying to gain a foothold in Spain through alliances with large European managers, such as UBS, Rockspring, AXA and Savills Investment Management, which will allow them to participate in smaller-sized operations and enter other sectors such as the office, logistics and retail segments.

The incorporation of new investors, capital funds and Chinese, Japanese and Korean family offices, amongst others, at the hand of the large European managers that are already present in Spain and know the local market well, offers them the possibility of arriving in the country by assuming less risk.

One of the most recent examples is that of the Korean fund manager Igis Asset Management, which, through Savills Investment Management, closed the purchase of Nestlé’s headquarters in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona) last October for €87 million. That operation followed others such as the purchase of the Madrilenian Zielo Shopping Pozuelo and that of the office building located at number 2 Calle Santa Bárbara, both through funds managed by UBS, in turn, financed by Asian capital, amongst others.

Indirect investment

(…). These alliances followed the trickle of mega-operations undertaken in Spain in recent years. The most significant include the deal involving the Philippine group Emperador, which purchased the Torre Espacio building in Madrid, one of the skyscrapers that forms part of the Cuatro Torres complex, from Villar Mir, for €558 million.

Another operation that revolutionised the market involved the Chinese holding company Wanda, albeit ephemerally, as it had to abandon the project just three years later. The group purchased Edificio España (Madrid) from Banco Santander in 2014 for €265 million and sold it in the summer of 2017 to RIU, its current owner (…).

Those two Asian investors were joined by the sovereign fund of Singapore GIC, which, through the Socimi P3 Logistics Parks, acquired a foothold in the logistics market in Spain, one of the segments with the most potential.

Investors from Asia are therefore one group of overseas players who are committed to the country, but they are not the only ones. According to a report compiled by Savills Aguirre Newman, international capital was the major star in 2018, accounting for 70% of the €10.8 billion transacted, the largest percentage since the start of the market recovery five years ago (…).

By origin, investors from Europe and the USA account for almost 57% of the domestic and international investment total and 85% of the volume of operations from overseas. Asia is ranked in third place (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urban Hubs: The Future Pillars of the Last Mile are Seducing the Real Estate Sector

22 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Prologis and Amazon have started to invest in urban hubs. The future pillars of e-commerce logistics are still in an embryonic phase, but the large real estate investors have started to track these types of assets, whereby sparking interest from other players. Forgotten old warehouses and factories (and even office buildings) in inner cities are now seducing these giants, which regard them as the new urban nuclei for handling same-day deliveries, and even, same-hour deliveries, which are demanded by e-commerce nowadays. Spanish investors are already beginning to study opening logistics centres in the heart of Madrid and Barcelona.

The Spanish market is still at the tail of the e-commerce market in Europe, where it represents just 4% of all retail sales, compared with 12% in the United Kingdom and 16% in the United States, according to the ratings agency Moody’s. Nevertheless, experts forecast that e-commerce in Spain, and on the rest of the planet, will continue to make inroads to ultimately account for one third of all retail sales.

This drastic transformation of retail is challenging for the traditional logistics system, comprising regional distribution platforms located away from urban centres that supply different local warehouses to delivery to different businesses. The new system is supported by an e-fulfilment centre (a fully automated platform), which directly supplies several urban hubs located inside cities, which make deliveries to consumers (…).

Blackstone, one of the largest real estate investors in the world, has invested around €4 million in small urban warehouses in Europe since the beginning of 2018. Unlike large warehouses on the outskirts of cities, urban hubs are smaller facilities with a lower risk in terms of their development.

The sovereign Singapore fund, GIC, has also entered the segment. The investment group even has a specific division for building logistics facilities on urban land (…).

Nevertheless, they are difficult assets to find and mould for their new function. On the one hand, because cities have grown and transformed over the last few decades, with housing replacing former industrial land (…). On the other hand, because, these facilities need to be rethought for the constant entry and exit of goods.

The future urban hubs will be built on land still classified as industrial inside cities, which is much cheaper than residential. And, given the difficulty of expanding width-wise due to the lack of land, the plans involve constructing properties with various storeys. In large cities in Asia, where land prices are very high, multi-storey warehouses are already typical.

In addition to industrial land, another option for urban hubs is to use office buildings. To the extent that new business areas in new parts of cities are created, so empty and underused spaces are being left in city centres.

Currently, new technology-based distribution companies, such as Paack and Stuart, are shaking up the market, by accelerating e-commerce deliveries using logarithmic calculations. Meanwhile, traditional express transport companies, such as Seur and MRW, amongst others, have also started to adapt to expedite last mile deliveries with small warehouses in the centre of large cities.

Small signs in Spain

Sources in the real estate sector indicate that some investors specialising in retail have started to study the implementation of these types of logistics structure to complement the flagship stores in the centre of Madrid. Specifically, some players have started to analyse the option of installing urban hubs in office buildings.

In Barcelona, we have already seen one case along those lines. In 2016, Amazon opened a warehouse in the former headquarters of the publishing house Gustavo Gili, on Calle Rosselló in the El Eixample neighbourhood, to introduce its Prime Now service offering deliveries within the hour. Nevertheless, sources in the sector indicate that Amazon may have started to question the suitability of that platform since it has not managed to make the prices of the urban land profitable (…).

Aitor Martínez, Head of Industrial & Logistic are Savills Aguirre Newman, points out that in some cities, such as London and Málaga, pilot tests are being carried out regarding deliveries of the future. A common denominator in all of them are the urban hubs. In the logistics of the future, these new logistical nuclei, will not only speed up deliveries, but they will also respond to other challenges in the sector, such as the introduction of greater restrictions over the entry of vehicles into city centres and the prohibition of polluting vehicles from the roads (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by S. Riera & P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Four Largest Socimis Already Control €30 Billion of Real Estate

8 August 2018

The largest of these real estate companies multiplied their assets fourfold since their first major acquisitions in 2015. Axiare left the continuous market and Hispania will soon follow as the sector undergoes a period of concentration.

The success of the socimi regulatory regime since its launch in 2013 is reflected in the gigantic portfolio of assets that these real estate companies have amassed in the last few years. The four largest listed companies have already accumulated portfolios of properties worth nearly 30 billion euros in three or four years of operation, according to the companies’ financial reports for the first quarter of 2018.

The development of a regulatory regime for these listed real estate investment companies was helmed by the then Minister of Finance Cristóbal Montoro, as these companies were exempted from paying corporate taxes in exchange for obligations such as having to distribute at least 80% of their dividends (which is taxed) and a listing on the stock exchange, guaranteeing transparency, among other requirements. The regulatory regime followed the example of REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust), which have a long history in the US and Europe.

These companies are focused on the property business, and they lease their properties, which are principally offices, shopping centres and commercial premises, hotels, rental homes and logistics warehouses.

The launch of the regulatory regime coincided with the recovery in international confidence in Spain (after the sovereign debt crisis and doubts about its financial system) as some foreign firms (mainly investment funds and later institutional capital such as insurers) that returned to the market, betting on a recovery in the reactivation of the Spanish real estate market. Moreover, socimis have been one of the principal channels for investing these international flows of capital in this type of asset.

At Least €15 Billion More on the MAB

Spain’s Alternative Stock Market. The MAB found a way to grow through the socimis. 59 of these real estate companies have already listed on the market, often as purely tax vehicles, with no major movements in their limited free float and which also do not carry out large purchases. Among them, three big ones stand out: GMP (owned by the Montoro Alemán family and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC), Uro Property (with Santander’s banking offices) and General de Galerias Comerciales (owned by the executive Tomás Olivo). At the end of last year, there were 44 of these companies in the MAB, with a value of 12.221 billion euros (+60% y-o-y), according to data from Armabex, a registered advisor.

Testa Residencial. Among the 15 socimis that joined the MAB in the last months, Testa, which is owned by Santander, BBVA, Acciona and Merlin, stands out. Testa debuted at the end of July with €2.275 billion in rental housing. Along with other companies that launched on the market this year, there are now 59 firms with at least €15 billion in property. Initially, Testa had planned to debut on the continuous market, but market doubts in June led the company to opt for its plan B. The company still plans on a move to the continuous market in the future.

Records for investments in this type of property were broken in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In the past year, 13.99 billion euros were allocated to acquisitions, according to the real estate consultancy JLL, with international funds and socimis as the main players.

The growth of these companies over the last three years has been spectacular. In the first semester of this year, when the socimis published updated property valuations, the big four had €27.336 million in their portfolios (up 3% compared to the end of 2017). The four include Merlin Properties, Colonial, Hispania and Lar España. Taking the first quarter of 2015 as a baseline, when the largest of these companies were already active and began to make their large purchases, these same companies had a total of €6.691 billion. That is a fourfold increase in three years.

If one takes into account that Colonial had not yet become socimi that year (the developer changed status in 2017), the jump is even greater since, at the time, Axiare (absorbed a few months ago by the Catalan company) is one of the top four, with only €465 million in its portfolio. At that point, Merlin, Hispania, Axiare and Lar España had total assets of €4.2 billion, 6.5 times less than at the present date.

The success of these companies has led them to be targets of large corporate operations in the sector in recent months, in a period of concentration that experts believe will continue for the time being.

The largest then, as now, is Merlin (listed on the Ibex-35), which has Ismael Clemente as its CEO. The socimi already owns properties worth €11.755 billion, mainly offices and shopping centres and commercial premises, although with increasing investments in the thriving logistics warehouse sector. The company was launched after convincing investors, mainly Americans, to acquire the so-called Árbol (Tree) portfolio and its 800 BBVA banking branches.

The socimi debuted on the stock exchange in 2014 and grew rapidly with the acquisition of Testa from Sacyr in 2015 (€1.8 billion cost) and the integration of Metrovacesa’s tertiary assets (buildings valued at €1.67 billion) in 2016. At this point, Santander became its largest shareholder, with 22.6% of the capital. The rest is highly diluted, with large international funds as the most common investors. Its flagship buildings include the Torre Agbar, where Facebook will open an office (through the CCC outsourcing company) to monitor and control harmful content on the social network.

Merlin is closely followed by Colonial (Ibex 35), which has assets valued at €11.19 billion, compared to €2.185 billion in 2015. The historic real estate company began operations in Barcelona in 1946 and decided to become a socimi last year for the tax benefits. It has made major strides through its investments, including its recent takeover of Axiare, for which it paid €1.7 billion, giving Madrid a greater weight in its portfolio. The portfolio, mainly offices (91%), includes properties controlled by its French subsidiary SFL, with buildings in Paris (33% of the total value). The core of Colonial’s shareholders includes the Mexican investor Carlos Fernández González (18.3% of the capital), the Qatar Investment Authority (10.6%), the Colombian group Santo Domingo (7.3%) and the perfume family Puig (5.1%).

The other major socimi that has been the protagonist of a recent corporate deal is Hispania, listed since 2014, which was recently taken over by the giant American fund Blackstone. In fact, Blackstone has controlled 90.5% of the socimi since the end of July and is expected to abandon the socimi tax regime in the coming weeks. The company has €2.185 billion in real estate, 66% of which corresponds to hotels. The US fund plans to use Hispania’s assets to create a large hotel platform after having also acquired the HI Partners from Sabadell for €630 million.

After the acquisitions of Hispania and Axiare, the only large company that will remain on the continuous market is Lar España, which is managed externally by Grupo Lar, with the Pimco fund as its main shareholder (19.6%). It was the first socimi to make the jump to the stock market and has assets of €1.58 billion, of which 82% are shopping centres, following its strategy of focusing on the retail sector. With that in mind, the company announced the sale of its logistics park to Blackstone for €120 million at the end of July.

Original Story: Cinco Días / El País – Alfonso Simón Ruiz

Translation: Richard Turner

Singapore’s Sovereign Fund GIC Lists its Logistics Socimi on the MAB

5 December 2017 – El Economista

Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC has obtained the green light to debut the logistics Socimi that it owns in Spain on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), according to a statement by the exchange.

The Socimi in question is P3 Spain Logistic Park, which owns eleven logistics centres, as well as one solar panel farm. Its asset portfolio is worth €30.3 million, and so it has set the price for its debut on the stock market at €5.66 per share.

The logistics complexes have a combined surface area of 321,392 m2 and are located in five autonomous regions, although the majority are situated in Madrid and Castilla La Mancha.

Specifically, four of them are located in Madrid, two in Zaragoza, two more in Toledo and one in each of Bilbao, Quer (Guadalajara) and Valencia, respectively. Their surface areas range between 7,729 m2 and 80,037 m2.

In terms of the solar panel farm, it is also located in the Aragonese capital (Zaragoza) and is connected to Endesa Distribución’s network.

The Socimi has leased out all of its logistics centres, each one to a different centre. Its tenants stand out due to the great variety of sectors to which they belong.

Main tenants

According to the firm, its main tenants at the moment include the household appliance manufacturer BSH, the pastry distribution firm Conway, La Casera (Schweppes) and Seur.

In addition, its other tenants also include the furniture firm Arc Distribución, the manufacturer of rubber parts for the automotive sector Saargummi, the company that cleans plastic food containers Europool, the express parcel delivery firm DHL and the cold storage company Montfrisa.

Together these tenants provide the Socimi with annual rental income of €3.44 million, according to information provided in the IPO information brochure.

In the financial section of that document, the Socimi reports that it holds debt of €204 million with its main shareholder, in other words, with the State of Singapore, although that liability does not have a fixed maturity date. The sovereign fund itself will determine the timing and amounts of the debt plus interest that it asks to return.

P3 Spain Logistic Park is coming onto the market at a time when it is also analysing new asset investments, including “turnkey” projects and those already constructed, provided they fulfil the requirements of the firm’s growth strategy.

According to the information brochure, this business policy involves buying logistics assets used primarily for the distribution and storage of goods, which are located in the centre of the country or along the Mediterranean corridor, and which are guaranteed to generate “consistent revenues” over the medium term.

The Singapore fund’s Socimi states that it is an owner with a long-term investment profile, and so it rules out the sale of any of its assets (for the time being).

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Rents In Azca’s Towers Exceed Those In The Cuatro Torres

12 September 2017 – El Economista

The Cuatro Torres skyscrapers, to the north of Madrid, are no longer casting a shadow over Azca, which is establishing itself as the iconic business district in the city. With views overlooking the Paseo de la Castellana and just a stone’s throw from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Nuevos Ministerios transport hub, this business centre has managed to renew itself, to avoid being left behind compared with other areas of Madrid. So much so, that the rents for its recently renovated skyscrapers are 16.6% higher per square metre than the most expensive space in the Cuatro Torres, to the north of the city.

Castellana 81, the historical headquarters of BBVA, leads the ranking in terms of rental prices in Madrid, given that its empty space is being marketed for between €27 and €35 per square metre per month. This tower, designed by the prestigious architect Sáenz de Oiza, has been subjected to a comprehensive renovation by its owner, the Socimi GMP, which spent €30 million renovating one of its most iconic properties in Azca and on Madrid’s skyline.

The asset, which became a multi-tenant property when it first came onto the market, has already managed to conquer new companies following the departure of the banking entity, which moved to its own financial city, in Las Tablas, to the north of Madrid. Thus, in the last few months, rental contracts have been signed with Teka and Hays.

At the forefront of design

Castellana 77, which is also owned by the Montoro family’s real estate company and the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC, has been the subject of another of the major renovation projects that has been carried out in Azca and which has positioned the business district at the forefront of design. Its façade is covered with slats that protect it from direct sunlight and which are lit up at night in a diverse range of colours.

The tenant that decides to lease the office space in this building, which spans 16,200 m2 over 18 floors, will be able to choose the colour of the tower, which has more than 200 parking spaces as well as charging points for electric cars. With these features, this property has the second highest rents in Azca, which range between €28 and €33 per square metre per month.

And it is followed closely by Torre Europa, which housed the headquarters of the professional services firm KPMG for many years. Following the move of that consultancy firm to the Cuatro Torres, the tower has been renovated to turn it into the first intelligent and connected office building in Spain. Infinorsa, the majority owner of this skyscraper, which overlooks the Santiago Bernabéu, has invested €20 million on a facelift of the façade, which had not been changed for 30 years, and above all, on the renovation of the interior, which has given a radical about-turn to the essence of this 121m-tall tower (…).

Rents in this tower now range between €27 and €32 per square metre per month. Its renovation has already captivated one of the large international law firms, Freshfields (…). The US firm AOL has also decided to move its Spanish corporate headquarters to Torre Europa, as well as a pharmaceutical company (…).

Torre Picasso, the tallest skyscraper in Azca, at 156m, has not undergone such a comprehensive renovation as its neighbours, but following the departure of the consultancy firm EY to Torre Titania, 15,000 m2 of space there was left vacant. Some of that space in the tower owned by Pontegadea – the investment arm of Amancio Ortega – will be leased to Deloitte, which will thereby become its largest tenant. After several improvements to the property, the highest floors are now being marketed for €31/m2/month (…).

Rents in the Cuatro Torres barely reach €30/m2/month

Nevertheless, in the new financial district located in the north of Madrid and known as Las Cuatro Torres, only one of the towers manages to charge a rent of €30/m2/month, even though the buildings are much younger, given that they were inaugurated between the years 2008 and 2009.

Office space in Torre Espacio ranges between €29 and €30 per square metre per month. The Philippine group Emperador, which owns this skyscraper (…) renewed the image of the tower at the end of last year and launched a new marketing plan with the aim of finding tenants for the 8,800 m2 that were vacant in the building at that time.

Next in the ranking is Torre Cepsa, for which Amancio Ortega (…) paid €490 million last year. It is occupied almost in its entirety by the oil and gas company whose name it bears; the cost of the 15,000 m2 of space that is available ranges between €23 and €28 per square metre per month.

Meanwhile, Torre de Cristal, the tallest skyscraper in Spain, at 210m, is the most affordable of its neighbours, since its available space is being marketed for between €25 and €27 per square metre per month. Last year, KPMG left the Azca area and moved to this property, where it leases around 23,000 m2 (…).

Next door is Torre PwC, leased to the consultancy firm whose name it bears and the five-star hotel Eurostars. Its owner is the Socimi Merlin Properties (…) and PwC reportedly pays €19/m2/month.

The Cuatro Torres complex is now getting ready to receive a fifth tower, Torre Caleido. That property, which is currently being constructed (…), will be leased to IE Business School and Grupo Quirón-Salud (…), who will reportedly pay between €15 and €18 per square metre per month (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: Logistics Inv’t Rose By 29% To €664M In H1 2017

20 July 2017 – Eje Prime

Investment in the Spanish logistics market soared once more during the first half of the year. Transactions involving logistics assets amounted to €664 million during the first six months of 2017, representing an increase of 29% with respect to the same period last year, when investment stood at €514 million, according to a study prepared by the real estate consultancy firm CBRE.

In the second quarter alone, industrial and logistics investment reached €364 million, a figure that far surpassed the amount recorded in the second quarter of 2016 (€300 million).

According to the consultancy firm, the difference compared to previous years is that the “appeal” of this sector is not concentrated only in Madrid and Barcelona, but rather it extends to other cities, such as Zaragoza, Valencia, Bilbao, Málaga and Sevilla.

Similarly, interest in investment in high-risk projects has been consolidated, due to the growth in the volume of logistics space leased in every city caused by e-commerce. In fact, investors who have never shown any interest in logistics have started to consider the sector as a necessary component of their portfolios, according to CBRE.

Some of the main logistics transactions closed so far this year include GIC’s acquisition of the Acero portfolio, worth €243 million; CIC’s purchase of Logicor’s assets; and Axiare’s acquisition of the second phase of a project located in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), worth €38 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: RE Inv’t Rose By 38% To €6,100M In H1 2017

4 July 2017 – El Confidencial

Investor appetite for the Spanish real estate sector is continuing to rise and our country is getting ready to close yet another historical year in terms of investment volumes. For the time being, the first half of the year has seen record investment figures, with an investment volume of €6,100 million during the six months to June, up by 38% compared to the same period last year, according to data from CBRE.

There are five mega-operations behind this result, which have determined the strong start to the year: the purchase of the Madrid Xanadú shopping centre by Intu Properties, which paid €530 million for the property; the acquisition of the Buffalo portfolio, worth €300 million, by Blackstone; the sale of Edificio España to Riu for €272 million; the sale by GreenOak of the Acero logistics portfolio to GIC for €243.3 million; and the purchase of the Nueva Condomina shopping centre by Klépierre for €233 million.

And all indications are that between now and Christmas, there will be another similar run of operations, an expectation that allows experts to predict that investment will exceed the €10,000 million threshold for the third year in a row.

Some of the operations called to collaborate in the record-breaking figures are on course, such as Hispania’s sale of its office portfolio, for which the Socimi has received half a dozen offers for around €500 million; the sale of Parque Corredor by Sareb; and several portfolios that the banks are bringing onto the market; whilst others are well underway, such as the purchase of nine retail parks and properties that the South African fund Vukile Property has just agreed – it will acquire a portfolio of retail properties from the joint venture between Redevco and Ares for €193 million.

More appetite, lower returns

The main driver of investment during the first half of the year was the retail segment, which accounted for one-third of total investment (€1,900 million), boosted by the recovery in consumption. The other side of the coin corresponded to the residential segment, which saw a decrease of 20% with respect to the first half of last year, whereas the hotel sector continued to benefit from the boom in tourism and accounted for 29% of the total (€1,750 million).

Nevertheless, all of this buyer appetite means that returns are now at minimum levels…and they are still falling. The logistics and hotel sectors are the only markets capable of offering attractive yields, with average returns of 5.85% and 5.75%, respectively, although those numbers fall well below the figures achieved just two years ago (7% and 8%).

Yields on shopping centres have decreased to 4.25%; office returns have fallen to 4%, whilst the profitability of high-street premises barely reaches 3.5%. Despite this narrowing, international funds, which have been backing our country for a while and other new funds, which are just arriving, have Spain at the centre of their targets and are starring in these record figures.

In this way, whilst last year, the Socimis were the undisputable investment leaders, accounting for 43% of the total, this year, they represent just 14%; meanwhile, investment funds account for 34% of the total, with the US, British and French funds leading the ranking of overseas investors.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Sells Logicor To Chinese Sovereign Fund For €12.5Bn

5 June 2017 – Real Estate Press

Logicor’s Spanish logistics portfolio, which covers more than 1 million m2, has been included in the second largest real estate operation ever to be closed in Europe. The deal has involved the sale of Logicor by Blackstone to the sovereign fund China Investment Corporation CIC, for €12,500 million, according to a statement issued by the US group on Friday.

Logicor, a company created by Blackstone in 2012, owns a portfolio comprising more than 600 high-quality European logistics assets, which have a combined surface area of 13 million m2, located in 17 countries, although more than 70% of the properties are concentrated in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Southern Europe. All of the assets are located in major European economies, along the main transport corridors and very close to major population centres. The portfolio is in an ideal position to benefit from the structural changes in demand that is currently being driven by the rapid growth in on-line trade.

In Spain, the company owns a portfolio covering more than 1.2 million m2, located primarily in Madrid and Barcelona, after having acquired assets from Axa, CBRE GI, SEP Investment, Gran Europa and General Electric, amongst others. Half of the Spanish portfolio is located in the Corredor de Henares. Logicor’s most recent acquisitions in Spain have included two warehouses spanning 70,000 m2 in Torrejón de Ardoz from IDI Gazeley, a purchase that formed part of a larger European operation covering 200,000 m2; and a 82,000 m2 space, which itacquired from Godman, also as part of a larger European operation.

With the sale of Logicor, Blackstone has repeated the move it made with IndCor in the United States in December 2014. On that occasion, the buyer was the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC, which paid $8,500 million for IndCor’s logistics assets, which covered a total logistics surface area of 12 million m2. And it was Blackstone that was the first to predict the effect that logistics spaces would have with the arrival of e-commerce, in addition to its great capacity to raise capital.

Antony Meyers, Director of Real Estate at Blackstone in Europe said: “We have constructed Logicor, through more than 50 acquisitions, to be a leading pan-European logistics company”. “Now, it will have an excellent new owner, with a long-term vision and we have no doubt that it will maintain its strength in a sector that has a very positive outlook”.

CIC fought off competition in the bid for Logicor from Mapletree Investment and Temasek, a joint venture formed by two Singapore state funds, according to a person familiar with the bid process, as well as Global Logistics Properties, a company controlled by the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC.

Logistics spaces are going to have enormous value for e-commerce companies, such as Amazon. Logicor has focused on the growth of its business in Western Europe, where on-line shopping is less developed than in the United Kingdom. The agreement is expected to be closed before the end of the year.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Who’s Who Behind The MAB’s Largest Socimis?

6 February 2017 – Expansión

The majority of Spain’s Socimis are now listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB). They have a combined market capitalisation of €3,500 million and so account for 68.5% of the value of that market, which is aimed at small and medium-sized companies.

In total, 29 real estate companies form part of the MAB, which comprises 67 companies in total. Seventeen of those real estate companies debuted on the MAB last year (…).

The largest Socimis

With a market capitalisation of €819 million, GMP is the largest Socimi on the MAB, larger even than one of the four Socimis that trades on the main stock market, Lar España. GMP, which was founded in 1979 by the Montoro Alemán family, debuted on the MAB last July, after adopting the Socimi structure two years ago. The real estate company, which owns around twenty office buildings in the most high profile financial districts of Madrid, has the sovereign fund of Singapore GIC as one of its shareholders; GIC owns a 32.9% stake in GMP, which it controls through another MAB-listed company, Eurocervantes.

Moreover, GMP is not only the largest Socimi (on the MAB) by market capitalisation, it also holds the largest portfolio of assets, worth €1,800 million as at 30 June 2016.

Another important owner of office buildings is Zambal. This Socimi is the only one of the five largest Socimis on the MAB that is not managed by its owner. The firm Investment Business Beverage Fund, based in Luxembourg and owned by the French magnate Pierre Castel, has appointed Iba Capital to manage its real estate investments in Spain. Iba is led by Castel’s fellow countryman Thierry Julienne.

This Socimi is the landlord of a number of large companies, both home-grown and from overseas. It owns the Madrid headquarters of Vodafone, Enagás, Gas Natural, BMW, Unidad Editorial and Día, amongst other buildings. Its portfolio is worth more than €730 million and its market capitalisation amounts to €559 million.

Meanwhile, Uro Property was created by the creditors of the company Samo, which purchased around 1,130 bank branches leased to Banco Santander in 2007. Nowadays, after selling several batches, it owns 755 branches worth €1,585 million (as at 30 June 2016).

Its main shareholder is the firm Ziloti Holding, although Santander and CaixaBank also hold direct stakes in the company amounting to 22.79% and 14.5%, respectively.

Blackstone, the largest investment fund in the world, has also listed a Socimi on the MAB to manage some of its real estate assets in Spain. Specifically, it has placed the thousands of homes that it owns and rents out into Fidere, worth €317.5 million.

The fifth largest Socimi on the MAB by market capitalisation is Isc Fresh Water. This vehicle was created with more than 200 bank branches from Banco Sabadell purchased in April 2010 by the Mexican fund Fibra Uno, controlled by the investor Moisés El-Mann.

Nowadays, the Socimi owns 213 branches, worth around €374 million, and its main shareholders are the El-Mann family, with a 65% stake and Jacobo Bazbaz Sacal, with 14.85%.

Diversity on the MAB

Each one of the Socimis on the MAB has its own characteristics, ranging from Promorent, with its market capitalisation of €4 million to GMP (which is worth more than €800 million). Their performance on the stock market is also very different: five of them have recorded increases since the beginning of 2017; three have registered decreases; and the remaining 21 have not seen any changes in their share price since the start of the year. (…).

Outlook for 2017

The proliferation of Socimis on the stock market will continue this year, according to the experts, who believe that the economic context favours these companies. (…).

Nevertheless, analysts warn that their small size and lack of liquidity imply risks for investors, since it is possible that they will not be able to sell their shares when they want to, due to the very small volume of business. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz and Diana Esperanza)

Translation: Carmel Drake