Tag: hypermarkets

Carmila Signed 437 Lease Operations In 2016

26 January 2017 – Cuatro

Carmila, the real estate subsidiary owned by Carrefour, has completed its third year of activity in Spain, during which time it has signed 437 commercial lease operations, according to a statement made by the company.

Specifically, the company led by Sebastián Palaciones signed 206 new operations corresponding to a gross leasable area (GLA) of 20,662 m2, and also secured the continuation of 231 strategic clients with contract renovations covering a total surface area of 22,655 m2.

Similarly, the firm, which has more than 1,100 specialty leasing contracts in its portfolio, confirmed the company’s commitment to this retail format, which includes the opening of stands, promotional events for leading brands and the innovative concept of pop-up stores, amongst other activities.

The most active regions in terms of rental space leased in 2016 were Andalucía, accounting for 27% of the operations signed, followed by the Community of Valencia (17%), Madrid (14%), Galicia (7%) and Castilla La Mancha (6%).

By retail sector, the largest share of surface area was leased to restaurants, with 45 new contracts, followed by fashion stores, with 25 contracts, whilst telephone companies were ranked in third place, with 20 contracts.

Carmila was constituted in April 2014 by Carrefour, which controls 42% of its capital, with the aim of generating value from the shopping centres located next to its hypermarkets. The other shares in the firm are owned by major institutional investors.

In Spain, the company owns 70 shopping centres, spread across 32 provinces in high-end strategic locations. Its assets are worth more than €1,000 million and the company also manages almost 2,500 stores and medium-sized outlets.

Original story: Cuatro

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankinter Launches A €400M Socimi For Its Private Banking Clients

27 December 2016 – Expansión

Bankinter has started to offer its private banking clients a new investment project. It is a Socimi, which the entity plans to launch on the MAB in around two months time. This entity will invest in commercial assets, such as supermarket, hypermarkets, retail premises and parks, as well as bank branches, in sought-after locations. The aim is to invest around €400 million in assets, of which around €200 million will come from contributions made by the entity’s clients and the remaining 50% from financing. The minimum investment per client will be €250,000, up to a maximum of 10% of their financial wealth.

For the launch of this investment vehicle, Bankinter has sought a partner with experience in the Spanish real estate market and in the management of commercial assets. The Portuguese real estate company Sonae Sierra, which owns more than 40 international projects in Europe, Africa and South America, seven of which are located in Spain, will take care of the search for and management of the assets that the Socimi buys. Like Bankinter, it will hold a minority stake in the new company, and two of its representatives will sit on the Board of Directors and on the Investment Committee.

Meanwhile, the bank led by María Dolores Dancausa will have three Board members and two representatives on the Investment Committee.

Anchor investors

The two partners will invest a maximum of €15 million in the case of Bankinter, with a minimum of €7.5 million; and €7.5 million in the case of Sonae, with a minimum of €3.75 million, if they achieve €200 million in equity for the upcoming stock market debut.

The Socimi will focus on buying commercial properties located mainly in Spain (the idea is that Spanish assets will account for 65% of the total portfolio) and the rest in Portugal. The minimum investment volume by operation will be €5 million to €20 million per asset or per portfolio of properties.

All of the assets that the Socimi acquires must be in good locations with long-term contracts that will run for at least five years. Its potential tenants include retail groups such as Mercadona, Carrefour and Día and other large operators such as Leroy Merlin and Decathlon.

Although the investment vehicle does not own any assets yet, it is already analysing ten operations, having made a series of non-binding offers. These deals include the purchase of a portfolio of hypermarkets worth €150 million and the acquisition of a retail park for around €20 million.

The Socimi hopes to achieve a gross asset value yield of between 6% and 6.5% during the first two years, which is higher than the returns offered by other listed real estate companies such as Axiare, Merlin and Realia, which this year expect to offer yields of 4.8%, 3.2% and 4.5%, respectively, according to information provided by Bankinter to its potential investors.

The aim of this Socimi is to offer an average annual dividend of between 4.5% and 5%, which is a much higher return than those offered by other banking products currently on the market. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills: RE Inv’t In The Retail Sector Totalled €2,400M In 2015

14 March 2016 – Cinco Días

Real estate investors really like the retail sector in Spain. In fact, last year, they demonstrated their interest through the purchase of shopping centres, hypermarkets, supermarkets and other retail outlets. In 2015, total investment in the sector amounted to €2,400 million, to reach a new peak in the historical series prepared by the consultancy firm Savills, which dates back to the year 2000.

This data is better than any recorded during the real estate boom years of the last decade. The figure represents an increase of 14% with respect to 2014 and of 10% with respect to the market peak to date, recorded in 2006.

In terms of the number of operations in this segment, the increase of 35% with respect to last year, with 46 investment operations, also marked a new record with respect to the level reached in 2014, when 35 operations were signed.

Moreover, sources at Savills say that the pace of activity does not seem to have slowed down so far in 2016 – the number of transactions to date is in line with the number recorded during the first quarter last year. Almost €600 million has been invested so far this year, which represents a level similar to the annual volume recorded during the years of the crisis, between the period from 2009 to 2013.

The consultancy firm calculates that the current portfolio of operations in the pipeline (pending signing) and assets that are going to come onto the market in the short term could amount to an additional €2,500 million.

On the investor side, Socimis have become key players, with new players such as Lar España, which has attracted hundreds of millions in foreign funding.

In any case, cross-border investment by European and US funds accounted for more than two thirds of the total in 2015 and almost all of the investment made so far this year. On the sell side, international firms also account for most of the activity. “Players who purchased at the low point in the cycle and those that are now looking to rotate their assets are taking advantage of the recovery to generate more profits”, say the sources.

The largest transaction last year involved the sale of the Puerto Venecia shopping centre in Zaragoza, which Intu acquired from the fund Orion Capital for €451 million. That was followed by the sale of the Plenilunio shopping centre, which Klépierre bought from the same fund for €375 million. In third place was the sale of a portfolio of Eroski supermarkets to Invesco for €358 million.

Original story: Cinco Días (by A. Simón)

Translation: Carmel Drake