Tag: H&M

Torre Sevilla Shopping Centre to Open in September with 92% Occupancy Rate

20 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Torre Sevilla is getting ready to open with almost a full house. The complex in the city of Sevilla, which will open its doors in just two months time, has commercialised 92% of its space. In recent weeks, the managers of the complex have agreed the entry of several new operators.

In the field of fashion, H&M, Parfois and the jewellery chain Time Road are going to open stores in Torre Sevilla, following in the footsteps of other groups such as Primark, Mango, Women’s Secret, Springfield, Calzedonia and Foot Locker, amongst others.

The shopping centre has also announced the arrival of the supermarket chain Día, as well as several telecoms operators, including Movistar and Vodafone. The gastronomic offer is going to comprise companies such as Udon, Vips, La Tagliatella, Burger King and the bakery chain Granier.

The opening of the complex will complete the Torre Sevilla architectural project, in which CaixaBank has invested more than €320 million. In addition to a shopping centre, Torre Sevilla contains an office block, the Eurostars Torre Sevilla hotel, CaixaForum Sevilla and Magallanes Park.

Designed by the Argentinian architect César Pelli, the retail complex comprises two large buildings, which span a gross leasable area (GLA) of 26,700 m2 and a constructed surface area of 43,000 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Tander Acquires Gran Vía 6 (Bilbao) for €7.5M

26 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Tander is expanding its geographical reach. The Socimi, present in Barcelona and Santander until now, is growing in the north of Spain with the purchase of its first asset in Bilbao. The company has acquired number 6 Gran Vía in the Basque city for €7.5 million, in its first operation since it made its debut on the MAB in January.

According to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), the operation includes “two properties that comprise a single commercial premise”, with a constructed surface area of 257.33 m2.

“These premises have been leased recently, and are on the verge of being handed over to the new lessee, something that will happen within the next few days”, says the company, owner of a fund in which the Canadian manager Première Alliance holds a stake.

To carry out the operation, Tander has required external financing. In June, the company granted various guarantees to ING to “free up” €8.32 million of the financing committed with the financial entity, which amounts to €54.27 million in total. Similarly, the company drew down €4.27 million more.

The Socimi is using that amount to finance the purchase of the asset in Bilbao as well as to strengthen “its financial capacity to comply with its real estate asset acquisition strategy”. Tander’s investment plan for 2018 amounts to €25 million, which will serve for the acquisition of between three and four assets outside of Madrid and Barcelona, according to Eje Prime.

The company debuted on the MAB in January with a valuation of €50 million. Tander owns five assets in prime areas of Barcelona and a sixth in Santander, which constituted a portfolio that was worth €80.3 million at the beginning of the year.

From Vía Laietana to Paseo de Gracia

Tander’s footprint in Barcelona is located in the centre of the city. The Socimi’s largest asset is an office at number 6-20 Calle Casp, which has a surface area of 3,457 m2. That building houses the offices of Cadena SER, owned by Grupo Prisa, just above Teatro Tívoli.

At number 15 Paseo de Gracia, the manager owns a retail premise measuring 527 m2, which is currently leased to FC Barcelona, which has opened a flagship store. In the same street, at number 27, the Socimi has leased a store measuring 792 m2 to the brand Cos, part of the H&M group.

Tander completes its portfolio in Barcelona’s city centre with part of number 47 Vía Laietana, an office building in which the Socimi has leased 1,100 m2 to Banco Sabadell. The financial entity also leases a branch measuring 155 m2 at number 171 Travessera de Gràcia, which is also owned by Tander Inversiones.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

ECE and J&T Bid in RE Operation of the Year

12 June 2018 – Expansión

One of the real estate mega-operations of the year is entering the home stretch. The German manager specialising in retail ECE and the Slovakian real estate leader J&T Real Estate are positioning themselves as favourites to acquire the Valle Real (Santander), Max Center (Bilbao) and Gran Casa (Zaragoza) shopping centres, currently owned by Iberian Assets, a joint venture in which the fund managers CBRE Global Investors (CBRE GI) and the multi-national Sonae Sierra both hold 50% stakes.

In the case of the Slovakian firm, the operation would be carried out through an alliance with Sonae Sierra and would represent J&T Real Estate’s debut in Spain.

Market sources explain that, in both cases, the bids for these assets exceed €450 million and reveal that the transaction could be closed within the next few weeks.

The portfolio, baptised as Project Summit, includes almost 117,000 m2 of gross leasable space in total (owned by Iberian Assets) and together, the three centres received 24 million visitors last year. CBRE GI and Sonae Sierra engaged the real estate consultancy firms CBRE and JLL at the beginning of the year to sell the three shopping centres.

The assets

Valle Real, opened in November 1994, has a gross leasable area of 47,725 m2, spread over two floors and is fully occupied (100%).

The shopping centre, located in Santander, closed last year with 5.9 million visitors. Valle Real includes a Carrefour hypermarket, which occupies almost 16,000 m2. Its other main tenants include Primark, Inditex, H&M and Forum Sport.

Meanwhile, Max Center is located in Bilbao and it opened its doors for the first time in 1997. The asset was remodelled in 2000 and its tenants include Inditex, H&M, Cortefiel, La Tagliatella, Foster’s Hollywood and Cinesa.

The shopping centre also has an adjoining leisure space, Max Ocio, which opened in 2002.

In total, the centre has a surface area of almost 40,000 m2 and it also received 5.9 million visitors last year.

Gran Casa, inaugurated in 1997, has a gross leasable area spanning 80,000 m2, almost half of which is occupied by Hipercor, and with an overall occupancy rate of 93%. Last year, the shopping centre, located in Zaragoza, received 12.2 million visitors.

If the transaction goes ahead, it will be the largest (non-corporate) operation in the real estate sector so far this year by transaction volume.

Moreover, the sale of the Summit portfolio would clear the way for the sale of another major commercial portfolio by Unibail Rodamco.

The shopping centre giant has hung the “for sale” sign up over four of its shopping centres in Spain – Los Arcos (Sevilla), Bahía Sur (Cádiz), Vallsur (Valladolid) and El Faro (Badajoz) – an operation that may exceed the volume of Project Summit.

Investment

According to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks (AECC), last year 29 transactions, involving 36 assets, were closed for a total sum of €2.7 billion, which represented growth of 35% YoY.

So far this year, several significant operations have been closed such as the sale of a portfolio of 14 premises by Inditex to the German fund Deka for €370 million (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vukile Increases Castellana Properties’s Share Capital by €7M to Fund New Purchases

12 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The South African fund Vukile is looking after its investment vehicle in Spain. The Socimi Castellana Properties has increased its share capital by €7 million to undertake new purchases, according to explanations provided by the group to Eje Prime. The company is whereby continuing with its investor appetite, which was sated in May with the purchase of the Habaneras shopping centre for €80.6 million.

“Castellana Properties is immersed in an ambitious growth process”, explain sources at the company. “Last year, the Socimi acquired eleven retail parks in Spain for approximately €300 million, to become a strategic player in the real estate sector and, specifically, in the retail sector”, explain sources at the company.

“The capital increase forms part of this growth strategy; it will allow us to increase the company’s financial capacity to undertake new and exciting projects”, they conclude. Following this increase, the resultant subscribed share capital will amount to €33.4 million. The South African fund Vukile now has a portfolio containing thirteen shopping centres in Spain and an investment made to date of €290 million across the whole Spanish market.

Since last year, the group has closed several operations in the Spanish market. Redevco Iberian Ventures, the joint venture between the real estate company specialising in retail Redevco and funds managed by the global alternative asset manager Ares Management, sold nine retail parks to the Socimi for €193 million.

In December, the group acquired two retail spaces in Granada and Murcia with an investment of €65 million. Alameda Park has a surface area of 25,000 m2 and was acquired for €54.6 million, whilst Pinatar Park occupies 10,637 m2 and involved an outlay of €10.7 million.

The only operation signed by Vukile and Castellana Properties so far this year has been the purchase of the Habaneras shopping centre for more than €80 million. The complex was constructed in 2005 by Metrovacesa. Since then, the asset has passed through the hands of Unibail-Rodamco, in 2008 and Harbert, which acquired Habaneras for €65 million.

That centre has a gross leasable area of 24,158 m2 and contains 70 stores distributed over three floors and more than 800 parking spaces. Its tenants include operators such as Zara and H&M. The Habaneras shopping centre received 4 million visitors last year and recorded operating revenues of €5 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Tander Signs a €55M Loan to Finance New Purchases

11 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Tander Inversiones wants to continue nurturing its asset portfolio and for that it requires capital. The company, owned by a fund in which the Canadian manager Première Alliance holds a stake, has just signed a €55 million loan to carry out new purchases, according to explanations provided by Clara Casales, Property Manager of the Socimi, speaking to Eje Prime.

Last week, the company agreed, under the framework of its Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting “to repay and cancel the debt that it has subscribed to date, also cancelling all of the guarantee instruments relating to it, with the aim of refinancing, expanding and unifying the company’s debtor position under a new financing arrangement amounting to €55 million”, explain sources at the Socimi.

Tander will allocate these new funds to the purchase of new assets in the Spanish market. The Socimi has established an investment plan of up to €25 million for 2018 with the aim of expanding to more cities in Spain, with Madrid as a priority, according to comments made to Eje Prime. Tander’s objective is to purchase between three and four assets this year.

The Socimi concentrates its current investments in Barcelona, where it has five assets in prime areas of the Catalan capital. The sixth asset in the portfolio with which it leapt onto the Alternative Investment Market at the beginning of 2018 is located in Santander. When it rang the bell, the value of Tander’s portfolio amounted to €80.3 million.

Now, Tander’s aim is to expand its investments to the main cities in Spain. Some of the areas that the Socimi is analysing include Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla and San Sebastián, although it is also interested in Málaga and A Coruña. Tander is analysing different operations, but it does not have anything identified yet.

From Vía Laietana to Paseo de Gracia

Tander’s current portfolio in Barcelona is distributed around the main shopping area of the Catalan capital. The Socimi’s largest asset is an office space at number 6-20 Calle Casp, which has a surface area of 3,457 m2. It houses the offices of Cadena SER, owned by Grupo Prisa, just above the Teatro Tívoli.

Very close by, at number 15 Paseo de Gracia, the manager owns a retail premise measuring 527 m2, which is currently leased to FC Barcelona, which has opened a flagship store there. On the same street, at number 27, the Socimi leases a 792 m2 store to the Cos brand, part of the H&M group.

Tander completes its portfolio in the central area of Barcelona with part of number 47 Vía Laietana, an office building in which the Socimi leases 1,100 m2 to Banco Sabadell. This financial institution also leases a 155 m2 branch at number 171 Travessera de Gracia, which is also owned by Tander Inversiones.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

M&G Real Estate Purchases 3 Commercial Premises in Madrid & Granada

29 May 2018 – Eje Prime

M&G Real Estate is continuing its shopping spree in Spain. The real estate division of the British fund M&G Investment has acquired two commercial premises in Madrid and a third in Granada. Moreover, the firm has also added two industrial assets in the Spanish capital to its portfolio.

The commercial premises in Madrid are located at number 68 Gran Vía, whilst the asset acquired in Granada is located on Calle Reyes Católicos, where the Swedish fashion retailer H&M recent opened a store. In the Spanish capital, the tenants of the retail spaces are the restaurant chain Tony Roma’s and the financial entity Banco Sabadell, which will open its flagship branch in the premises soon.

Meanwhile, in the logistics sector, the real estate investment firm has purchased a logistics platform in Corredor del Henares, which is leased to Teka, and an industrial complex in Getafe. In total, those two assets span a surface area of more than 55,000 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

IBA Capital Creates a Fund to Invest up to €300M in Spain’s High Street

25 May 2018 – Eje Prime

IBA Capital is gaining strength as one of the investment funds with the most potential in the Spanish market. The company has just launched an investment fund specialising in the retail high street segment, through which it plans to invest up to €300 million in the purchase of commercial assets located on the main streets (high streets) of Spain’s secondary cities, according to Thierry Julienne, founder of the investment vehicle, speaking to Eje Prime.

This new vehicle from IBA Capital will bet on buying commercial premises on streets such as Calle Larios in Málaga and Calle Tetuán in Sevilla, for example. Also on IBA Capital’s radar are assets located in cities such as Valencia, Santander, Coruña, Oviedo and Vigo, amongst others.

“We want to create a portfolio of prime assets – we are not looking for properties to create value, but rather buildings are profitable with operators such as H&M, Mango and chains from the Inditex group as tenants”, explains Julienne, who also added that the stores that may interest the fund should have a surface area of around 1,000 m2.

“It is a safe fund, which has been created with an investment capacity of €100 million, but which may reach €300 million over the next few years”, he says. The type of investor to which this new vehicle from IBA Capital will be directed are “conservative and Spanish”, explains the director. “Family offices, for example, are target investors of this new fund”, he concludes. (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank Acquires L’Aljub Shopping Centre in Elche for €170M

8 May 2018 – Expansión

Deutsche Bank is increasing its commitment to the Spanish retail sector by adding the L’Aljub shopping centre in Elche to its portfolio of assets in Spain.

Specifically, the German bank has signed an agreement with the fund Seva (Southern European Value-Add Mandate), managed by TH Real Estate for the investors TPG Real Estate – the real estate platform of the international manager TPG – and Partners Group, for €170 million.

The operation has been advised by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield, which has worked with the vendor, whilst CBRE has advised on the buy side.

With this acquisition, the entity is strengthening its position in the commercial sector in the country. In August 2016, Deutsche Bank purchased the Diagonal Mar shopping centre from Northwood for €495 million. That operation was the second largest transaction ever closed in the shopping centre sector in Spain, after the purchase of Xanadú.

Moreover, Trajano – the Socimi managed by Deutsche Bank – purchased the Alcalá Magna shopping centre from Incus Capital for just over €100 million at the beginning of last year. In addition, the firm also owns the Salera shopping centre in Castellón de la Plana.

The L’Aljub shopping centre was inaugurated in 2003 and spans more than 60,000 m2, spread over two floors and with a large underground car park.

Besides the commercial and leisure offering, L’Aljub is home to an Eroski hypermarket on the ground floor.

Specifically, the shopping centre contains 120 shops and has 3,200 parking spaces. Its most high-profile tenants include Inditex, H&M, Primark, Mango and Cines ABC.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Klépierre to Invest €45M in Expansion of Maremagnum Shopping Centre in Barcelona

3 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The world’s shopping centre giants are very much focused on Spain. Whilst at the beginning of the year, Unibail-Rodamco announced that it was putting up for sale four non-strategic shopping centres in Spain, today, it is another French firm, Klépierre, who is picking up the gauntlet and redoubling its commitment to the country. The company is going to invest €45 million in the expansion of its Maremagnum shopping centre, located in Barcelona, according to sources at the company speaking to Eje Prime.

The group estimates that it will spend €45 million to increase the complex by 8,000 m2, space that will be added to the second floor and sides of the shopping centre. According to the company, the building work will begin in the coming months, although it is not expected to be completed until the second half of 2021. This is the only renovation or expansion project that Klépierre currently has planned in Spain for the next few years.

Maremagnum is one of the jewels in the crown of Klépierre. Located in one of the most touristic enclaves of Barcelona and where a large number of cruise ships disembark every day, the complex was launched in 1995 and was renovated in 2012.

Currently, Maremagnum has a total surface area of 22,542 m2, of which 18,800 m2 are dedicated to commercial activity. More than 154 brands operate in the shopping centre, including the Swedish giant H&M, the majority of the Inditex chains, the US firm Victoria’s Secret and restaurant operators such as McDonalds.

Maremagnum has formed part of Klépierre’s portfolio since 2015 when it completed the purchase of the Dutch company Corio for €7.2 billion. The French group completed the acquisition of Corio after launching a public exchange offer in October 2014 for 93.6% of the shares in circulation.

The objective of the French real estate company with that purchase was to expand its presence in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, given that Corio owned complexes in seven counties and in urban centres such as Amsterdam and Istanbul, as well as in cities such as Madrid, Rome, Turin, Utrecht and Berlin.

Specifically, following that merger, Klépierre took ownership of an asset portfolio comprising 178 shopping centres spread over 16 European countries with a combined asset value of €21 billion. In this way, after the merger, Kléperre’s portfolio in Spain comprised around twenty shopping centres, worth more than €2.26 billion, and which generate a profit of €110 million for the group (…).

Good results for the sector in Spain 

In macroeconomic terms, shopping centres are performing well in Spain at the moment. Turnover for these types of assets rose by 1.5% last year with respect to the previous year, whilst visitor footfall grew by 1.1% YoY.

The sectors that performed the best last year with respect to 2016 in terms of sales were the home, leisure and restaurant sectors, with increases of 5%, 3.7% and 2.7%, respectively, according to a report from Cushman&Wakefield.

According to the real estate consultancy, new additions such as customer advisory services and sensory and emotional perception, which create new experiences for users, have helped this increase in shopping centre sales figures and visitor numbers. Nevertheless, consumer electronics stores saw their sales fall by 1.8% last year, with respect to 2016.

The occupancy rate of the assets analysed was 91% in 2017, three points above the level last year. The higher demand for retail space also led to increases in rents in shopping centres, which saw rental prices rise by 1.4% last year.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

German Fund Deka Puts Ballonti Shopping Centre (Vizcaya) Up For Sale

26 February 2018 – Expansión

Deka wants to make some cash and has hung the “for sale” sign up over the Ballonti shopping centre, located in the municipality of Portugalete (Vizcaya). The German fund, which acquired the asset in 2010, at the height of the economic crisis, has decided now, eight years later, to put it up for sale and has engaged the consultancy firm CBRE to manage the process, according to reports from market sources speaking to Expansión.

The German group purchased the shopping centre from Eroski for €116 million and the current valuation could reach €150 million, in such a way that Deka could obtain significant capital gains from the sale.

In any case, sources in the sector consider that the timing of the operation will depend on the evolution of the sales process involving a portfolio of three shopping centres by Sonae and CBRE Global Investors, which is expected to come onto the market within the next few days. That portfolio of assets, which includes the Gran Casa shopping centre (Zaragoza), the Valle Real shopping centre (Cantabria) and the Max Center (Barakaldo), may be sold for around €500 million.

Ballonti, inaugurated in 2008, has a surface area of more than 50,000 m2 spread over two floors, and its tenants include Primark, H&M, Springfield, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Lefties and Women’s Secret. Moreover, the shopping centre is home to a large Eroski hypermarket spanning a surface area of more than 13,000 m2.

The retail space includes an upper floor dedicated to leisure with a cinema, an adventure park, a gym and a restaurant area with brands such as Burger King, Foster’s Hollywood, 100 Montaditos, Krunch, Mr Wok, Café and Bodega Ballonti.

Investor appetite

After the significant investment drive in shopping centres last year, which ended with a transaction volume of around €2.7 billion, thanks to record operations such as the purchase of Xanadú, in Arroyomolinos (Madrid) for €530 million, investor appetite is expected to be maintained this year.

According to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks (AECC), last year, 29 transactions were closed involving 36 assets for €2.7 billion, which represents growth of 35% with respect to the previous year.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake