Tag: GMP Property

Socimis to Account for 66% of Listings on Spain’s MAB by July

25 June 2019

Three socimis, Millenium, Inbest and La Finca, will begin trading on Spain’s Alternative Stock Market (MAB) in the near future. After they do, socimis will account for 69 of the 103, listed companies on the exchange, equal to two-thirds of the index.

The MAB was created in 2006 and opened to small and medium-sized companies in 2008. The platform is a good vehicle for such companies since trading is normal and the market is well-regulated, but the bureaucratic hurdles to list a new company on the exchange are less intimidating.

The Spanish government approved the regulatory framework for socimis in 2012, and Entrecampos and Promorent first went public in 2013. General de Galerías Comerciales, GMP Property and Testa Residencial are the three largest listed socimis on the MAB.

To join the MAB, companies must have fully paid-up capital, audited accounts and list through an initial public offering with a minimum free float of €2m.

Original Story: ABC – Moncho Veloso

MAB’s Director Encourages Socimis to Generate Trust to Attract Investment

30 October 2018 – Finanzas

The Director General of the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), Jesús González Nieto (pictured below), has today encouraged the Socimis to “generate trust” through the transparency of their corporate governance arrangements to attract new investors and “to depend on the market for growth”.

González Nieto closed a conference about Socimis at the headquarters of the CEOE by underlining that generating trust is a task for everyone so that the real estate investment formula, which has been on the Spanish stock market for five years, can become increasingly well known.

In his opinion, the French and British markets have many more small investors in the real estate sector thanks to the structures that they have, which are similar to Socimis, and so he expects growth in the Spanish market if the entities can manage to provide good information about that possibility of stock market investment.

At the moment, 61 Socimis are trading on the MAB, whilst another five trade on the main stock market.

The Director General of Renta 4 Banco, Jesús Sánchez-Quiñones, has inaugurated a process for the concentration of Socimis over the coming years and has said that “they are avoiding stock market crashes”, due to their strong expectations and lower liquidity.

Representatives from eleven Socimis participated in the conference, ten on behalf of Socimis that are trading on the MAB and one that will make its debut soon: Park Rose Iberoamericana, which will start trading on 15 December.

The President of Park Rose, Luis Alberto Akel, explained that his firm has Chilean capital and is diversifying its real estate investments in Chile, the USA and Spain.

The CEO of Témpore, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, warned that “there is a lot of international interest in the Spanish residential sector”, and, after reminding the audience that his Socimi arose as an “additional mechanism for the divestment of assets by Sareb”, he said that when that operation concludes, they will go “and look for new investors”.

Díaz Saldaña has indicated that he would like for Témpore to be listed on the main stock market and the Director General of GMP Property, José Luis García de la Calle, also noted that his firm has considered that option, but that the growing “demands” of the MAB are already broad enough, without having to implement audit and remuneration committees.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Castellana Properties, Alfonso Brunet said, “We are getting ready to comply with the requirements of the main stock market”.

The CEO of Vitruvio, Joaquín López-Chicheri, highlighted that “the Socimis allow us to diversify risk” and to be present in the four segments (residential, commercial, offices and logistics), whilst other participants in the conference indicated that they prefer to focus on a niche market.

In this way, José Nistal, from the Socimi Almagro, explained its specialisation in the purchase and rental of flats for the elderly, where the tenants have an average age of 84.3 years.

The latest Socimi to join the MAB, Azaria, in September, focuses exclusively on the long-term, stable, rental of offices and its only asset, for the time being, is the headquarters of El Páis, which is leased until 2033, explained its manager, Teodoro Díez.

Sergi Mirapeix, from Tander, explained that his firm only invests in commercial premises in the most central areas of cities (currently, it is present in four: Barcelona, Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastián) and Jorge González, the representative of the Socimi Asturias, has indicated that its sole objective is to focus on large retail parks.

Josep Turró, from Barcino, said that his firm is going to seek to diversify as much as possible, by “adaptating to demand”, and Fabrizio Agrimi, from Vbare Iberian, said that his Socimi is committed to “added value, without property developer risk”.

Original story: Finanzas 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Paralysis In Trading Amongst The MAB’s Socimis

17 January 2017 – Idealista

The Alternative Investment Market (MAB) has become the catapult for many small Socimis – the real estate investment vehicles that are obliged to debut on the stock market to maintain the tax benefits that they enjoy.

Currently, this platform is home to 28 such companies, of which 17 debuted during 2016, however, not all of them are attracting the attention of investors. What’s more, one in five is trading today at the same price per share at which they debuted and some of them haven’t registered any movements in their share prices at all, which means that they are not being traded.

Examples include some of the most recent companies to debut. One of them is Inmofam 99, a Socimi that has 10 commercial and residential assets in its portfolio, which is owned by the Hinojosa family, the founder of the Cortefiel textile group. It debuted on the MAB on 21 December 2016 at a price of €17.60 per share and it is still trading at that price almost one month later, according to data from BME, the company that manages the Spanish stock market.

The same is happening with RREF II Al Breck, which debuted on the MAB on 30 November 2016, at a price of €5.40 per share, the same price at which it is currently trading. This Socimi, controlled by a company headquartered in Luxembourg, is the owner of almost 700 assets, mainly homes located in Madrid, although it also owns retail premises, one office and several storerooms, garages and basements.

Another Socimi that finds itself in the same situation is Euro Cervantes, a company that holds two investment stakes in its portfolio: one 30% stake in GMP, the owner of homes, offices and land, and one 49% stake in La Maquinista shopping centre, the largest in Barcelona. This vehicle is owned by the Government of Singapore and has been trading at €31 per share since 22 September 2016.

Corona Patrimonial and Heref Habaneras are also experiencing very similar situations. (…).

These five Socimis together have a combined market value of €353.8 million, a figure that increases to more than €900 million in we include Zambal Spain, which has also been having a tough time. This vehicle, which owns several offices and retail premises, whose tenants are giant businesses operating in Spain, has been trading for almost 14 months (it debuted on the MAB on 1 December 2015…). It is currently trading at €1.24 per share, the same level at which it debuted, although its shares have been traded significantly. During its first month on the market, the company moved 10,000 shares and €13,000, whilst during 2016 as a whole, it moved half a million in both shares and cash. (…).

Trading plummets during first fortnight of 2017

A certain degree of apathy is being observed amongst the Socimis on the MAB in these early stages of the year. Some other vehicles should be added to the list above, including Corpfin Capital Prime Retail, Fidere Patrimonio, GMP Property, Hadley Investments, Inversiones Doalca and Mercal Inmuebles. In fact, of the 28 Socimis trading on this platform, only five have been traded, to a greater or lesser extent, during the first fortnight of January.

The most liquid of all of them is Entrecampos Cuatro, the first Socimi to debut on the stock market (back in November 2013) and whose portfolio mainly contains homes, premises, offices and land. In two weeks, this vehicle has seen 188,000 shares traded for €350,000.

The second most liquid has been Trajano Iberia…with 9,000 shares traded for €91,000. It is followed by the office specialist Autonomy Spain Real Estate (3,000 shares traded for €51,000); Vbare Iberian Properties (2,000 shares traded for €32,000); and Optimum RE (€3,000 traded). The latter two hold homes in their portfolios.

As such, and despite the fact that investors do not normally back Socimis on the MAB (because they are smaller entities with less liquidity…), it is true that we have found some companies that have managed to increase their value by double digits since they debuted on the platform, such as Entrecampos and Optimum, which are amongst the few that have seen movement in their shares during the first two weeks of the year.

Original story: Idealista (by Ana. P. Alarcos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

First-Generation Socimis Rush To List Before 30 Sept 2015

7 July 2015 – Cinco Días

Socimis are the investor vehicle of the moment. Their tax advantages and the international funds that they are attracting, have turned Socimis into key players in the timid recovery of the real estate sector. And they are going to become even more important. Many of the first generation Socimis (those constituted in 2013, following the reform of the law governing these listed real estate investment companies) are obliged to list on the stock exchange before 30 September 2015; failure to do so will mean that they lose their right to not pay corporation tax.

“The law made provisions for a transition period for the fulfilment of all requirements. The deadline for one of those, to list on the stock market, ends on 30 September”, explains Antonio Sánchez Recio, Partner at PwC. According to market sources, there may be a dozen companies in this situation, although some of them are small and will only list to comply with the law, rather than to raise capital, at least initially. (…).

They will join those that currently trade on the main stock exchange, namely: Merlin Properties, Hispania, Lar España and Axiare. As well as the smaller companies, which are listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), namely: Entrecampos, Fidere (owned by Blackstone), Mercal, Promorent and Uro.

Around 25 entities are now constituted as Socimis, but some of them have been created in the last few months, and so they will not be affected by the upcoming deadline.

Furthermore, other companies are not obliged to list in Spain at all, since their shares are already traded on other European markets. That is the case of Pryconsa’s companies, called Cibra 2009 and InveRetiro, which in turn are owned by Saint Croix Holding Inmobiilier, a Socimi listed in Luxembourg. And that is also the case of Orion Columba, the owner of the Plenilunio shopping centre, which is now itself owned by the French listed company Klepierre.

In addition to the companies constituted in 2013, the market expects that a large number of these vehicles will undertake IPOs in the coming months. Such is the case of Trajano, the Socimi recently created by Deutsche Bank. One of the most eagerly awaited is the future Socimi Pontegadea, the family office owned by Amancio Ortega, which has assets of almost €5,000 million. (…).

Another large company on analysts’ radars is IBA Capital’s company Zambal, which owns the ABC Serrano shopping centre, amongst other buildings. Other companies also include GMP Property, created by the Montoro family and the sovereign fund GIC, which owns large assets such as Torre BBVA in Madrid. Acciona is in the same boat, it is assessing different options for its commitment to the residential rental sector, including the creation of a Socimi, according to sources close to the company.

Other companies and funds that are setting up their own Socimis include: Green Oak, Drago Capital, Corpfin, Autonomy Capital, Jaba, Meridia, Rodez (through Anglón Alza), Quabit (with the Socimi Bulwin), Brookfields, as well as Santander Real Estate (Banif Inmobiliario), Norfin, Banco Sabadell (Solvia), Triangle, Turanta, Unibail Rodamco and Urbas.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake