Ivanhoé Cambridge to Invest Up to €150-Million in Capital Increase for Árima Real Estate

4 November 2019 – Árima Real Estate has announced a capital increase of up to 150 million euros. The Canadian real estate investment group Ivanhoé Cambridge will subscribe to the increase in its entirety, giving the firm up to a 29.9% share in the socimi.

The socimi debuted last year in the continuous market and had assets worth 175 million euros at the end of the first semester of this year.

Ivanhoé Cambridge will subscribe the shares at a maximum price of 10.4 euros, a premium of 3% compared to Friday’s closing price of 10.1 euros.

Currently, the top shareholders in Árima are the Bank of Montreal (10.4%), the Pelham fund (9.9%) and UBS (9.8%).

Original Story: Cinco Dias – A. Simón

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Intu Denies Any Plans to Sell its Stake in the Intu Xanadú in Madrid

1 November 2019 – Intu Properties has insisted on its long-term commitment to the Intu Xanadú shopping centre, of which it owns 50%. Nuveen, formerly known as TH Real Estate, owns the other 50% and has also stressed its intention to stay on as a long-term investor in the asset.

Intu Xanadú has 204 stores and well-known tenants including El Corte Inglés, Aliexpress Plaza, Zara, Primark, Apple, H&M, Mango, and Decathlon.

Intu acquired the shopping centre two years ago from Ivanhoe Cambridge for €530 million, subsequently selling 50% to Nuveen for €264.4 million.

Original Story: Idealista – P. Martinez-Almeida

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Intu’s New Strategy in Spain: to Change the Names of its Shopping Centres

16 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Intu is betting on branding to raise the profile of its name in Spain. The company, which has a vast presence in the United Kingdom, where it owns almost twenty shopping centres, is going to replicate its British strategy in Spain, by adding the word Intu to the name of its retail complexes. This week, the company announced that its shopping centre in Zaragoza, which has been called Puerto Venecia to date, is now going to be named Intu Puerto Venecia.

It was in 2014 when Intu reached an agreement with the fund Orion European Real Estate to acquire the Puerto Venecia complex, the largest shopping centre in Spain, for €451 million. The complex contains a retail park spanning 82,600 m2, which was inaugurated in 2008 and a leisure and fashion area measuring 130,000 m2, which opened in October 2012 (…).

Since the purchase by Intu, the British group has carried out a series of changes to the appearance and management of the shopping centre. But it has not been until now that the group has decided to complete the process by adding the word Intu to the name of the complex, whereby following in the footsteps of Intu Asturias.

Now, the next step will be for Intu to apply the same strategy to the Xanadú shopping centre. The British group completed the purchase of that shopping centre, located in Arroyomolinos (Madrid), from Ivanhoé Cambridge for more than €520 million in March last year. That acquisition was the largest operation since Deutsche Bank paid €495 million for Diagonal Mar.

In May of the same year, Intu created a joint venture with TH Real Estate to share the ownership of the Madrilenian shopping centre, transferring 50% of the complex to TH Real Estate for €264.4 million, half of the amount that it had paid for Xanadú.

That shopping centre, constructed in 2003, has a total surface area of 153,695 m2 spread over two storeys and with a total of 220 stores, making it one of the largest retail complexes in Madrid. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Bricor, Decathlon, Primark and Apple. Xanadú Madrid receives almost 13 million visitors per year and generates sales of around €230 million.

Shopping centres on the rise in Spain

Intu’s commitment to Spain comes at a good time for this retail format in the country. Sales registered at these complexes rose by 3.5% in 2017, to exceed €43.5 billion.

Specifically, revenues in the sector amounted to €43.59 billion in 2017. The market share of shopping centres and retail parks rose to reach 17.9%. Last year, around 1,900 million visits were registered at these complexes.

Meanwhile, investment in the sector soared by 35% in 2017, to €2.7 billion. During the course of last year, 29 transactions were closed involving 36 assets, according to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks (AECC).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Intu Sells 50% Of Xanadú To TH Real Estate For €264.4M

31 May 2017 – Europa Press

The British firm Intu has sold 50% of the Xanadú shopping centre, located in the Madrilenian town of Arroyomolinos, to TH Real Estate for €264.4 million. That figure represents 50% of the price that Intu paid to the Canadian group Ivanhoé Cambridge for the whole establishment back in March.

In this way, Intu and TH Real Estate are creating a joint venture to manage the ownership of the shopping centre, including the Snowzone, the only indoor ski slope in Spain, according to a statement issued by the British firm. Cushman & Wakefield introduced and advised TH Real Estate as a partner to Intu in the creation of that joint venture.

“We are delighted to announce our new partnership with TH Real Estate and we look forward to working together on a series of active management opportunities to improve and strengthen the position and offering of Madrid Xanadú”, said the CEO of Intu, David Fischel.

Xanadú, which has an occupancy rate of 97%, is currently home to more than 220 stores. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés and Primark, and it has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 153,000 m2 plus 8,000 parking spaces.

The shopping centre, which receives 13 million visitors per year, has a clear focus on leisure, given that its facilities include the only indoor ski slope in Spain, 15 cinema screens, a bowling alley and almost 40 restaurants. It also plans to open an Aquarium and a Nickelodeon centre this year.

The aim of the British firm, which is now working hand in hand with its partner, is to transform the centre into the resort of choice in the area. It plans to renew the offering, revitalise the space, undertake a digital transformation, as well as invest in the image, all with the aim of converting the centre into an attractive tourist destination where visitors can spend their leisure and free time.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank Negotiates Sale Of Gran Vía Alicante

30 April 2017 – Expansión

The real estate market for shopping centres is unrelenting. In the latest deal, Deutsche Bank has hung the “for sale” sign up over Gran Vía Alicante. The German entity’s real estate division, RREEF, which has engaged the real estate consultancy firm JLL to sell this shopping centre, has already received several offers for the asset.

Whilst the operation has not been closed yet, one of the players lining itself up as a candidate to take over the shopping centre is the British fund Europa Capital.

Moreover, one of the other investors interested in the asset is a consortium formed by Eurofund Capital Partners and Patron Capital and Carmila, the real estate subsidiary owned by Carrefour, according to market sources, which value the asset at just over €50 million.

The centre has a retail surface area of 37,300 m2, however, that figure includes a hypermarket owned by Carrefour, measuring 17,050 m2, which falls outside of the perimeter of this transaction.

Specifically, the retail space for sale, which has a gross leasable area of more than 20,200 m2, contains around 80 stores distributed over three floors, as well as an underground car park with 1,600 spaces.

Tenants

The shopping centre, inaugurated in November 1998 and renovated in 2012, received almost 5.3 million visitors last year and has an occupancy rate of 95% of its gross leasable area.

The shopping centre’s main tenants include brands such as Primark, H&M, Lefties, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Juguettos, Calzedonia, Natura and Fosters Hollywood, amongst others.

Gran Vía de Alicante, located on Calle José García Sellés, competes with Plaza Mar 2, the largest shopping centre in the town, spanning 43,600 m2.

In addition, other nearby shopping centres include Parque Vistahermosa, measuring 34,000 m2, San Vicente Outlet Park, measuring 36,500 m2 and Puerta de Alicante, measuring 34,500 m2.

Investment

Shopping centres are one of the real estate assets that have sparked the most interest amongst investors in recent years.

In 2016 alone, more than €3,700 million was invested in this segment, which constituted the second largest market in the real estate sector after the office segment.

The main operations closed last year included the sale of Diagonal Mar (Barcelona), which was acquired by Deutsche Bank from Northwood in August for €495 million, and the sale of Gran Vía de Vigo, which the Socimi Lar España acquired from Oaktree for €145 million.

So far in 2017, another mega-operation has been closed with the British fund Intu’s acquiring the Xanadú shopping centre (Arroyomolinos, Madrid) for €530 million from Ivanhoé Cambridge.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

British Fund Intu Finalises Purchase Of Xanadú For c. €520M

10 March 2017 – Expansión

The British private equity fund Intu is finalising the completion of a record deal in the Spanish real estate market with the purchase of the Xanadú shopping centre (in Arroyomolinos, Madrid) from Ivanhoé Cambridge for around €520 million, according to market sources.

The purchase – which the fund has been negotiating in exclusivity since January – will represent the largest operation involving a shopping centre in the history of the Spanish market, whereby exceeding the €495 million that Deutsche Bank paid for Diagonal Mar (Barcelona) last August, the €451 million that Intu paid for Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and the €375 million that Klépierre paid for Plenilunio (Madrid).

CBRE and the law firm Clifford Chance have advised Intu during the operation, whilst Eastdil has advised Ivanhoé, which bought Xanadú from the Mills Corporation in 2006, along with two other shopping centres, one in Canada – Vaughan Mills (Ontario) and one in Scotland – Saint Enoch (Glasgow) – for a combined value of around €770 million.

The operation will be financed by Santander, Crédit Agricole, CaixaBank and BBVA with a loan to value (percentage value of the asset that is covered by the loan) of 40%.

In parallel, Intu is looking for a partner to whom to transfer 50% of the share capital in Madrid Xanadú 2003, the company that owns the shopping centre. Market sources point to the Canadian fund CPPIB as a possible ally. Both firms are already partners in two other Spanish shopping centres owned by Intu: Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and Parque Principado (Asturias).

One of the other candidates interested in acquiring the asset was TH Real Estate, but it was pipped at the post a few months ago by Intu, as revealed by Expansión on 31 January.

With this operation, Intu, which has plans to develop new shopping centres in Málaga, Valencia, Mallorca and Vigo, is strengthening its position in Spain and picking up one of the trophy shopping centres in Madrid to boot.

The shopping centre, constructed in 2003, has a total surface area of 153,695 m2 spread over two levels and 220 stores. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Bricor, Decathlon, Primark and Apple.

Xanadú Madrid receives almost 13 million visitors per year and generates sales of around €230 million.

The shopping centre houses an indoor ski area – the only one in Spain and the largest in Europe – covering around 18,000 m2, as well as 15 cinema screens, a mini-golf course, a mini theme park, themed restaurants and a bowling alley.

In addition, Ivanhoé signed an agreement with Parques Reunidos last summer to construct an aquarium in Madrid Xanadú. Both companies reached an agreement with Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom, to construct a theme park based on Nickelodeon characters in Xanadú.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and R. Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Singapore Sovereign Fund Acquires P3 Logistics Parks

17 November 2016 – Expansión

GIC, the Singapore sovereign fund, is strongly committed to the European logistics sector. The investment group has just completed the acquisition of P3 Logistic Parks, one of the largest companies specialising in the logistics segment on the continent. The operation will be one of the largest transactions in the real estate market in Europe this year. GIC will pay €2,400 million in total to the funds TPG Real Estate and Ivanhoe Cambridge, which purchased P3 in 2013.

With this purchase, GIC is entering the Spanish logistics sector with a bang, given that P3 Logistics Parks owns 80,000 m2 of storage space in the country, spread over five assets. Specifically, the group owns one platform in Abrera (Barcelona), another one in Pedrola (Zaragoza) and three in the central region: in Valdemoro (Madrid), Alovera and Fontanar (Guadalajara). Its clients are major transportation companies, which lease all of the available surface area.

In total, P3, which is headquartered in Prague, controls logistics platforms with a combined surface area of 3.3 million m2, across Europe. Since TPG acquired the company three years ago, the firm has doubled in size through acquisitions, and now has a network of 163 logistics centres, located in 62 cities across nine European countries.

This year, P3 has completed a long-term debt financing process worth €1,400 million, with the aim of strengthening its growth strategy and securing some financial breathing room.

GIC’s challenge is to drive a new expansion phase to take advantage of the international boom in the logistics sector, driven in large part by the increase in online commerce. For this, P3 owns a portfolio of land on which it could build an additional 1.4 million m2 of logistics space.

New developments

In fact, the logistics park operator is already building eleven new complexes, which will generate 300,000 m2 of additional space over the next few months.

“We are delighted to have one of the most important sovereign funds in the world as our partner; GIC’s long-term investment strategy is very much aligned with our vision to build high quality assets and be long-term owners”, said Ian Worboys, CEO of P3.

Original story: Expansión (by S. Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ivanhoé Puts Madrid’s Xanadú Shopping Centre Up For Sale

14 September 2016 – Cinco Días

It is going to be one of the largest operations in the real estate market. The Canadian giant Ivanhoé Cambridge has begun the process to prepare the sale of the Xanadú de Arroyomolinos shopping centre (in Madrid), one of the largest five shopping centres in Spain. The aim is to close the transaction during the first half of 2017.

Several real estate brokers have already registered their interest and, in turn, have started to sound out potential investors with high purchasing power, given that it is expected that the operation price will exceed €500 million; that would represent a record figure for a transaction involving a shopping centre in Spain.

Madrid Xanadú was inaugurated in 2003. The property was developed by a joint venture between the US multi-national The Mills and the Spanish company PGC (Parcelatoria Gonzalo Chacón), which sold its stake to its American partner a year later. The real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge acquired the centre in 2007 for €770 million, in an operation that included two other retail complexes in the UK and Canada.

Located 29 km away from the centre of Madrid, Xanadú was an innovation more than a decade ago as it included an artificial ski slope, open all year round. The centre has a gross leasable and leisure area measuring 152,000 sqm, exceeded only by Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), Marineda City (A Coruña) and Parquesur (in Leganés, Madrid), according to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks (AECC). The centre is home to range of stores including the Inditex group, H&M, Apple and Primark. Hipercor and El Corte Inglés also have shops there, although those assets would fall outside of this transaction.

The search for investors

Various source in the sector have confirmed that Ivanhoé Cambridge has commissioned the US real estate broker Eastdil Secured to start designing the sales process. It is likely that the firm will look for a partner with a presence in Spain (one of the large specialist consultancy firms) with more knowledge of the local market. The aim is that the process to look for possible buyers will begin between October and November so that an agreement can be reached from the beginning of next year onwards.

Eastdil Secured was in fact responsible for selling the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona this summer to Deutsche Bank for €493 million, in a record deal that demonstrated investors’ confidence in the economic recovery in Spain and in the local real estate sector after the harsh years of the crisis, which began in 2008.

Expected to fetch at least €450 million

The various sources disagree with respect to the possible price of this asset, saying that it could range from €450 million to more than €500 million. In its favour, this shopping centre is one of the largest in the country, it houses many of the major retailers, and it also offers a vast leisure space. But, unlike Diagonal Mar, it is a long way from the city centre. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Ivanhoé Cambridge explained that the firm does not comment on “market speculation” about the investment strategy.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa To Capitalise €730M To Reduce Its Debt

6 April 2015 – Expansión

Metrovacesa is continuing its debt reduction process. After generating income of €1,546 million from (the sale of) its 27% stake in Gecina last summer, the real estate company will propose a capital increase of almost €730 million at its next shareholders’ meeting.

The aim of the capital increase is to convert some of the group’s liabilities into shares, according to an announcement made by the real estate company regarding the agenda for its general shareholders’ meeting. At the meeting, which will take place on 28 April at its headquarters in Las Tablas (Madrid), the leaders of the real estate company will present the results for 2014. In 2013, the most recent year for which figures have been presented, Metrovacesa recorded losses of €349 million, i.e. 29% more than in the previous year.

In that year, the group’s financial debt exceeded €5,088 million, a liability that it has managed to reduce following the sale of its stake in the French real estate company Gecina. In June, Metrovacesa agreed the sale of its 26.7% stake in the French company to Norges Bank, Crédit Agricole, Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge for €1,546 million. These funds were mainly used to repay a syndicated loan amounting to €1,600 million.

The debt for equity exchange will be accompanied by a capital increase through a cash contribution, with preferential subscription rights. The objective is to allow the 4,000 smaller shareholders to maintain their minority stakes, if they so wish, without any dilution of their ownership.

The main shareholder of Metrovacesa is the Santander group. The financial entity holds 55.8% of the (real estate company’s) capital, after it acquired the 19% stake that Bankia held in December (2014). Santander paid €100 million in that transaction.

The bank, chaired by Ana Botín, first invested in Metrovacesa’s share capital in 2008, when the real estate company was unable to pay its debts to its then largest shareholder, Román Sanahuja. Other banks also participated in that transaction (and still hold stakes today), namely: BBVA, which holds a 18.31% stake; Sabadell, which holds a 13.04% stake; and Popular, which owns 12.64%.

In 2013, these entities approved the de-listing of the real estate company from the stock exchange and, since then, they have focused on restructuring the debt.

New directors

At the shareholders’ meeting, Metrovacesa will also propose the appointment of four new directors: Rodrigo Echenique, Vice-President and Executive Director of Santander; Abel Matutes, Chairman of the Matutues business group; Juan Ignacio Ruiz de Alda, Director at Santander; and Manuel Castro; Director of Global Risk Management at BBVA.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bami Newco Files For Voluntary Liquidation

30 January 2015 – Inmodiario

Bami Newco, the real estate company controlled by Joaquín Rivero, which filed for bankruptcy in mid-2013, has now filed for liquidation, according to a ruling issued by the Commercial Court number 2 in Madrid. The company, which has debts of €652 million, proposed its liquidation under the Bankruptcy Law, after it was unable to reach a refinancing agreement with its lender banks.

Bami holds assets amounting to €726 million to meet its liabilities, according to a report published by the insolvency administrator in mid-2014.

The company was founded in 2007 after exiting Metrovacesa’s share capital, a real estate company in which Bami become the controlling shareholder following the takeover it launched in 2004.

The new real estate company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after, at the end of 2012, Rivero and the Soler family also declared bankrupt the companies through which they channelled the stakes (16.6% and 15.6%, respectively) they then held in the French real estate company Gecina. In 2013, they sold the debt linked to those investments, which were guaranteed by Gecina’s own shares, to the funds Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge.

The company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after failing to reach a long-term refinancing agreement with its bank syndicate that would have given it the financial stability necessary to continue its activity.

The company has a portfolio of office buildings located in the North of Madrid, totalling 127,500 square metres, with an average occupancy rate of 90%, backed by long-term contracts with highly solvent clients, including several Ibex 35 companies. Moreover, the company had plans to construct two buildings in the “Adequa” business park, which would have resulted in an additional 27,000 sqm.

Bami closed 2012 with a loss of €15 million, as a result of the cancelation of its derivative hedges and the impairment loss it recorded on buildings that had not yet become operational.

Despite having paid the interest on its debt on a timely basis since its constitution, and although most of its debts were due to mature this year, the real estate company decided that filing for bankruptcy was essential, since without long-term, stable financing, the business will be unable to develop its property portfolio and carry out its projects.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake