Tag: Iberdrola

Solvia Sells 2 Office Blocks in Alicante for €7.5M

30 December 2017 – Diario Información

The recovery in the Alicante real estate market is now also reaching the office segment. Whilst in recent years, the province has seen a significant number of operations in the residential sector and even in the shopping centre segment, now the interest of funds and other institutional investors has also extended to offices. Demand for office space has also started to recover in the face of the increase in activity, especially in the provincial capital.

In this context, Solvia has just closed the block sale of two office buildings in the city centre for approximately €7.5 million, an amount that is not at all typical in this market, which does not typically see the large figures of Madrid and Barcelona. The buyer is a Spanish family office – in other words, one of the investment platforms that many wealthy families use to manage their real estate portfolios – which has already participated in other similar operations. In fact, these types of companies have become one of the most active players in the market in recent times, in light of the minimal returns currently being offered by the banks on financial investments.

In terms of the assets sold, the larger one is located on Calle Calderón de la Barca, 16. That property has seven storeys and comprises 5,300 m2 for office use and another 1,300 m2 for parking and facilities, which is leased in its entirety to Iberdrola. The electricity company’s rental contract runs until at least 2022, which represents a great incentive in these cases.

The property, constructed in the 1960s, ended up in Sabadell’s hands in June 2015, in the same way as many other assets during the years of the crisis. The entity decided to put it on the market in September, to take advantage of the investor appetite. It shared the sales brochure with around thirty funds, Socimis and family offices known to be interested in these types of assets until it was finally able to close the operation a few days ago.

The operation also included another building in the centre of Alicante, in this case, located at number 46 Calle del Teatro, which is also used as offices. It is a new building with four storeys that houses 1,300 m2 of offices, as well as a commercial premise on the ground floor spanning almost 250 m2 and two basement floors with around twenty parking spaces, which are very sought-after in that area, next to Paseo de Soto and Maisonnave.

Few large premises

Demand for offices has increased significantly in Alicante over the last year and, although there are many empty offices, there is a shortage of spaces spanning more than 1,000 m2. Such spaces are of particular interest to consultancy firms, technological companies, ETT and Call Centre firms looking to expand into the area, according to the sector sources consulted. As such, interest in buying these types of properties has also increased from investors who have traditionally focused only on larger cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.

Original story: Diario Información (by David Navarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia To Sell 50% of Torre Iberdrola (in Valencia) to Atitlán

5 December 2017 – Intereconomía

Bankia has let its arm be twisted in the largest real estate operation in Valencia. The legal battle for Torre Iberdrola has been resolved through an out-of-court agreement.

Bankia is going to sell 50% of Torre Iberdrola to Atitlán and withdraw its claims against the sale of the property to the family. The financial institution chaired by José Ignacio Gorigolzarri is thereby allowing Iberdrola to do business with the Valencian Montoro family after divesting the 10% stake that it still held in Oceanic Center.

At the beginning of May, Iberdola completed the sale of the 50% stake that it held in the retail, hotel and office complex Aqua Multiespacio. The operation was closed for a much lower price than initially estimated: €61.5 million compared to €90 million.

The tower is owned by the company Oceanic Center and is home to the Aqua shopping centre and the Valencian headquarters of Iberdrola. The Montoro family has now purchased that 50% stake and has whereby acquired a majority share of the complex since it holds a majority stake in the remaining 50%. Bankia’s stake was a minority and it had been opposed to it. The sale of the 50% stake generated €17 million for Iberdrola.

The Montoro family closed the purchase through the companies Invesmon3 Ziel, Azzofinanz and Blanal Inversores. The operation has been settled for an amount that was 31.66% lower than initially expected. This operation directly affects Bankia and the Ferrando family, which formed part of the 50% that has not been sold. Both opposed the direct purchase by the Montoro family and announced actions to prevent the purchase from materialising. Nevertheless, the Montoro family imposed its majority stake in the company and gave the go-ahead for the operation to be closed.

This war is not new, in fact, it goes a long way back. The trio formed Navisa, a company that owns 50% of the shopping and hotel centre, where the majority of the capital was owned by the Montoro family, which now owns the majority of the complex, leaving the financial institution with a minority stake and without the right to veto new decisions. Bankia’s strategy was that the Montoro family would have a majority stake, but Bankia would increase its weight together with the Ferrando family. Nevertheless, Bankia has definitively disposed of its stake (almost 10% of Navisa), which has passed into the hands of Juan Roig’s son-in-law and his partners in NAU, the Ferrando and Quesada families, according to El Confidencial.

In this way, an out-of-court agreement has been reached with the Montoro family and the legal case has been terminated. It is not the only battle in the courts between Iberdola and Bankia. The power company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán brought a lawsuit against Bankia for its debut on the stock market. There is €70 million at stake, although a judge has already dismissed Iberdrola’s claim; they are now waiting for the appeal ruling.

Original story: Intereconomía

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axa Buys Remaining 45% Of Hotel Diagonal Mar For €70M

17 November 2017 – Eje Prime

Axa Real Estate is not one to rest on its laurels and so has acquired 100% of Hotel Diagonal Mar in Barcelona. The real estate arm of the French insurance company has committed to paying Iberdrola Inmobiliaria €70 million for the remaining 45% of the establishment to become the sole owner of the property, after it paid €80 million in June of this year for the other 55%.

With just over a month to go before the end of the year, this agreement represents the most important in the hotel sector in Barcelona, and one of the most significant in Spain. According to El Economista, this second payment will have been pre-determined by the two parties in the summer, when Axa’s first investment in the asset materialised.

Hotel Diagonal Mar is a property intended for holiday and convention (business) tourism, in the area of the same name, alongside the shopping centre of the same name, which Deutsche Bank purchased last year for €495 million. The four-star establishment is just 400m from the beach, has 413 rooms and 20 suites, as well as a large banquet room with capacity for one thousand guests and fifteen meeting rooms. The hotel was constructed by Iberdrola, after that firm reached an agreement with the chain Hilton, which has operated the establishment since then.

With this purchase, Axa is strengthening its interest in the hotel real estate business in Spain. In Madrid, it acquired Cine Rex on Gran Vía through the same real estate arm with which it has purchased the hotel in Barcelona. In that operation, the insurance company disbursed around €40 million to the firm Equity Inmuebles SL, controlled by the Mazin, Calero and Briones families.

Meanwhile, Iberdrola has completely disposed of one of its real estate jewels, but still operates a real estate portfolio with a gross leasable area of more than 200,000 m2 and an asset value of more than €600 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Raises Issues 12-Year Bonds Worth €300M

12 September 2017 – Expansión

Merlin Properties has returned to the capital market, taking the Socimi‘s visits so far this year to two. Yesterday, it managed to raise €300 million from the issue of 12-year bonds, in an operation for which it offered a coupon of 2.375%

To effectively manage the placement, Merlin engaged the services of Morgan Stanley. The issuance received robust demand, which allowed the firm to reduce the cost from 150 basis points above mid-swap (the reference rate for the placement of fixed income bonds in euros) considered initially, to 140 basis points above mid-swap.

This is the fifth issue that Merlin Properties has undertaken since its constitution. The first three, for a cumulative sum of €2,350 million, were carried out in 2016. This year, the Socimi has already raised €900 million.

According to the company, the funds raised will be used to early repay its mortgage debt, as well as for “general corporate purposes”. Merlin is the fourth non-financial company to resort to the debt market after Telefónica, Iberdrola and Cortefiel.

Original story: Expansión (by A. Stumpf)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Acquires 15% Of NAU, Which Holds Stakes In 2 Shopping Centres In Valencia

7 September 2017 – Valencia Plaza

Gesfesa, the firm owned by the Ferrando and Quesada families, has transferred the shares that it held in the real estate investment company Nuevas Actividades Urbanas (NAU) to Banco Sabadell. NAU owns significant stakes in the Aqua and Arena shopping centres in the city of Valencia.

That is according to the most recent annual accounts filed by the company Gesfesa Valencia SL, which reflect the operation within the caption “Variation in Group companies and associates”. “During the year, 51,862,209 shares in the company Nuevas Actividades Urbanas were transferred to Banco Sabadell by way of payment for a debt that we held with the entity”, reveals the company in its annual report.

The shares, which represent just over 15% of NAU’s total share capital, convert the financial institution into the new partner of Atitlan, which has controlled an 84.5% majority stake in the company since last March, through the entity Demeter Áurea.

When asked about the deal, sources at Banco Sabadell refused to confirm any of the details of the operation, but according to sources in the real estate sector, Gesfesa has now paid off all of its debt with the financial institution. The same sources add that Sabadell would have valued the stake it received at around €30 million, which means that the value of NAU amounts to around €200 million in total (…).

NAU’s assets

NAU, in which Sabadell now holds a stake, owns an attractive portfolio of assets, although it has suffered in recent years from a high level of debt and a complex relationship with the Montoro family. The Montoros are NAU’s partner in the ownership of its most sought-after assets – the aforementioned Aqua and Arena Multiespacio shopping centres.

Oceanic Center, the company that owns the Aqua Multiespacio retail, hotel and leisure complex, is one of the companies that NAU and the Montoros own jointly through the firm Navisa, however, the recent purchase of the 50% stake that used to be owned by Iberdrola left the family in control of most of the shares.

Meanwhile, the ownership of Valencia Natura Park, which owns the Arena Multiespacio shopping centre, is shared equally between the parties, with 50% in the hands of NAU and the remaining 50% held by the Montoros. The same applies in the case of Osito Park, which owns land next to the El Osito de la Eliana shopping centre. Another important asset is the Vega Cullera SL company, the property developer of the so-called Manhatten de Cullera – which is 100% owned by Navisa, in which the Montoros holds a majority stake.

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by Dani Valero)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Esteve Leases 12,000 m2 Of Office Space In Torre Marina From Iberdrola

6 September 2017 – Expansión

Record-breaking operation in the office market in Barcelona.

The pharmaceutical and chemical group Esteve has reached an agreement with the real estate division of Iberdola to transfer its corporate headquarters to Torre Marina, a property owned by the energy company.

Esteve has leased 12,000 m2 of space (out of a total surface area spanning more than 19,000 m2) spread over 10 of the 13 floors that make up the property. Following the agreement, the building will be renamed Torre Esteve, according to an announcement by Iberdrola.

The change of office will happen in 2018, and will bring together the c. 400 employees and collaborators that the pharmaceutical company currently has spread over several locations in the Catalan city.

In addition to the 12,000 m2 of office space, Torre Marina is home to a retail and services arcade, known as the MarinAtrium, and 1,000 parking spaces.

By volume, this is the largest corporate move in Barcelona in the last 10 years. During the first half of the year, 220 new office rental contracts were signed in the Catalan capital, of which only 11% were operations involving more than 2,000 m2, according to the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield. In terms of rents, the average price of office rentals in the prime area of Barcelona amounts to €22.50/m2/month, up by 7% compared to a year ago.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Iberdrola Puts Hilton Diagonal Mar Hotel Up For Sale

21 March 2017 – Expansión

Iberdrola has hung the “for sale” sign up over the jewel in the crown of its real estate subsidiary: the building that houses the Hotel Hilton Diagonal Mar, a four-star property located at the intersection of Calles García Faria and Taulet, in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Diagonal Mar.

The company has contracted the real estate consultancy firm Irea to sell the asset, which has an asking price of more than €150 million, according to market sources.

These sources also indicate that the process will be restricted and that they will look to attract four or five candidates interested in acquiring the asset.

The building that houses the Hilton Diagonal Mar is the largest asset in the real estate subsidiary’s current portfolio, behind Torre Iberdrola in Bilbao, which is the corporate headquarters of the multinational company and is therefore strategic for the energy group and not susceptible to being sold.

Iberdrola’s real estate subsidiary has different types of assets in its portfolio, ranging from primary homes and tourist apartments, to offices, industrial warehouses and shopping centres. Currently, Iberdrola Inmobiliaria has a portfolio of real estate assets under management with a combined gross leasable area of more than 200,000 m2.

In Barcelona, the company owns the office buildings Torre Auditori and Torre Marina (in the final phases of construction).

The hotel now up for sale, work of the architect Oscar Tusquets and opened in 2005, was developed by the real estate subsidiary of Iberdrola.

Agreement with Hilton

Just before the construction work was completed, the company reached an agreement with Hilton whereby the hotel chain would take charge of the operation of the establishment for 20 years.

The Hilton Diagonal Mar has almost 420 rooms and around 20 suites, as well as multi-functional meeting rooms and a ballroom with capacity for 1,000 people. The building, which is oriented towards corporate events and conferences, is located opposite the Diagonal Mar shopping centre, a stone’s throw away from Barcelona’s International Convention Centre (CCIB) and 18 km from the airport.

Real estate investment in hotel assets returned to record figures in 2016. In this way, almost a quarter of all investment in commercial assets was linked to hotel assets.

Specifically, last year saw investment volumes of €2,200 million, the second highest amount ever recorded, thanks to a boost from some significant transactions, such as the sale of Merlin’s hotel portfolio – comprising 19 hotels and 3,645 rooms – to Foncière des Murs for €535 million. Likewise, last year, the Hotel Villa Magna was sold to the Turkish group Dogus for €180 million, in what is still the highest grossing operation to date in terms of price per room (€1.2 million), ahead of the almost €800,000 per room that was paid for the Hotel Ritz in 2015. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and M. Á. Patiño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lone Star Puts Isla Chamartín Business Park Up For Sale

2 February 2017 – El Economista

In just a few days time, Lone Star will hang the For Sale sign up on one of the most attractive office asset in its Madrid portfolio. The asset in question is the Isla Chamartín business park, located in the north of the capital, opposite the studios owned by the production company Zeppelin Televisión.

The complex, which comprises four office buildings with a surface area of more than 9,000 m2 each, is located on Avenida de Manoteras 20 and, according to comments from sources in the sector, will be put on the market for more than €110 million.

The US fund generated revenues of €380 million at the end of last year from the sale of the Adequa business park, which neighbours Isla Chamartín. That is a mixed use complex, covering more than 100,000 m2, which is now owned by the Socimi Merlin and which includes land on which two more buildings are going to be constructed.

The two complexes entered Lone Star’s portfolio in 2015, when the fund foreclosed a debt package amounting to more than €600 million from Bami Newco, the real estate company owned by the late Joaquín Rivero, which filed for liquidation that same year.

The Isla Chamartín complex was finished just a few months before the real estate bubble burst – its four buildings were inaugurated between February 2007 and June 2008.

In total, the properties that comprise the park have a combined surface area of 38,134 m2, plus 930 parking spaces. Their tenants include Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción, BBVA Consultoría and Aernnova Engineering Solutions Iberica.

Over the last few weeks, Lone Star has been organising the sales process to select the agents that will take care of the marketing side. In the end, the fund has engaged the consultancy firms Knight Frank and CBRE, which are expected to launch the official sales process at the beginning of February.

Experts believe that this asset, located just seven minutes by car from Madrid Barajas Adolfo Suárez airport, with two Metro stops and easy access to the M-11 and A-1, will be well received by investors. (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Iberdrola Markets A Large New Office Complex In Barcelona

24 January 2017 – El Economista

The real estate consultancy firms Aguirre Newman and CBRE will be responsible for marketing the largest complex of new offices currently under construction in Barcelona. Specifically, Torre Auditori and Torre Marina, two skyscrapers, owned by Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, which form part of the BCN Fira District complex. The energy firm plans to build another two towers on the site, taking the total surface area to more than 91,100 m2.

Both agents will work under a co-exclusivity agreement to market the most important offices in Barcelona, where 35,550 m2 of new office space is expected to come onto the market this year. Most of this space will become available in Torre Marina, which is in the final phase of construction and which is expected to be completed in April.

This skyscraper, with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 19,663m2, will be the smallest of the four, but will differentiate itself from the rest because it will have a retail and restaurant space on the lower floors, known as the Marina Atrium.

The property stands next to Torre Auditori, which has a GLA of 22,899 m2, spread over 21 floors, and which was the first property to come onto the market. This skyscraper already has several tenants including Asus, Proclinic, Dentsply, Marmedsa and Iberdolra itself – which has moved its central headquarters in Cataluña to this building – it offers open spaces of up to 1,200 m2 per floor, divisible into four modules.

“Barcelona has always been a strategic place for our activity and we are now demonstrating it by putting more than 42,000 m2 of efficient office space on the market”, said Miguel Ángel García Tamargo, Director of Real Estate at Iberdrola Inmobiliaria.

In this sense, the firm highlights that both towers have an “A” energy rating and a BREEAM certificate, and stand out thanks to their functionality, sustainability and energy saving, “characteristics, which make this a unique and sustainable business centre in Barcelona”.

BCN Fira District

In total, Iberdrola plans to construct four towers, three of which will have 21 floors; and each one will have an above ground gross leasable area of 22,899 m2. Moreover, the plans include more than 1,000 underground parking spaces, which have already been built.

Located in the new business district of Barcelona, the design of Iberdrola’s business complex is being led by the Barcelona-based architecture studio Tusquets, Díaz y Asociados, which previously collaborated with the company to complete two other buildings in the Catalan capital, namely, the Torres Diagonal Litoral and the Hilton Diagonal Mar Hotel.

The four towers are just one group of properties that comprise the BCN Fira District complex, which also includes the Fira de Barcelona and the office building that the real estate subsidiary of the insurance company Axa is going to construct for La Generalitat.

93,000 m2

Iberdrola Inmobiliaria already has a timeline for the construction of the other two towers that form part of these plans, which will be launched once the two properties that have just come onto the market have been leased. If everything goes according to plan, the new building work will begin in 2018. During that same year, 93,000 m2 of new office space is expected to come onto the market in Barcelona, of which 23% has already been leased.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Unicaja Negotiates The Sale Of Its RE Arm With Haya & Apollo

29 December 2016 – Vozpópuli

(…). In recent months, the Málaga-based entity has accelerated the divestment of its investment companies to make some cash ahead of the challenges that it faces over the coming months. First came the sale of Iberdrola and now, Unicaja is in advanced negotiations to sell its real estate arm to Haya Real Estate, the platform owned by the US fund Cerberus in Spain, or Altamira, owned by Apollo (85%) and Santander (15%), according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. Sources at the entity say that the final decision has not been taken yet.

Through this operation, Unicaja wants to replicate the sales carried out by the large banks in 2014: Santander with Altamira, CaixaBank with Servihabitat and Popular with Aliseda. Through those deals, the banks recorded combined profits of more than €2,000 million.

It is critical that the Málaga-based entity generates profits at the moment for two reasons: the tax blow that it is going to suffer, due to the upcoming rise in Corporation Tax (CT); and the need to accumulate capital to pay back the public aid it received for Banco Ceiss (€604 million), over the next year; it has asked Brussels for more time in this regard. This would be an alternative solution to the entity’s debut on the stock market and would allow it to repay the contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) from the Restructuring Fund (Frob), which is what Ibercaja has done; yesterday, that entity repaid €163 million to the public fund. With this, the former savings banks avoid the blow for their shareholders that a debut on the stock market in the current environment would mean, although that comes at the price of them not being able to get rid of their shares.

Subsidiary up for sale

In the case of the real estate arm, the name of the subsidiary that Unicaja is negotiating the sale of is: Gestión de Inmuebles Adquiridos (GIA). It is a platform that administrates and sells the group’s foreclosed residential assets, and it has around 40 employees. It recorded turnover of €108 million in 2015, up by 5% compared to a year earlier.

Overall, GIA lost €114 million last year, because Unicaja recognised its real estate provisions in that company. In theory, this operation would only involve the sale of the management of the assets, not their title, although a small portfolio of around €50 million could also form part of the sale, according to sources close to the deal.

The entity, led until this year by Braulio Medel (pictured above, who continues to control the Foundation that owns 90% of the bank), does not have one of the largest exposures to property in the financial sector. It has foreclosed assets with a net value of €1,051 million, according to the figures as at June, which include provisions, meaning that they have a combined appraisal value of €2,690 million. (…).

The market also expects Unicaja to get rid of some of its other stakes, such as Deoleo, in which it holds a 10% shareholding and Reyal Urbis, in which the Foundation controls just over 4%. (…).

Original story: Vozpópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake