Tag: joint venture

Syllabus and Invesco Developing Nine Student Residences in Spain and Portugal

21 October 2019 – Urbania’s subsidiary Syllabus, which signed an agreement with Invesco at the beginning of the year, currently has projects for nine student residences underway in Spain and Portugal.

In total, the firm’s investments will add 3,000 beds to its portfolio, in addition to the 2,500 it had already planned to build by 2021. The total investment in the nine projects in Spain and Porto is forecast to exceed €150 million.

The company is planning or building two student residences in Madrid and one each in Valencia, Malaga, Pamplona, ​​Seville, Salamanca and Porto in addition to other investments the firm has yet to disclose.

The projects are part of a collaboration agreement Syllabus signed with Invesco at the beginning of the year. The two firms agreed to invest 250 million euros over five years in student residences in Spain.

Original Story: Eje Prime – Marc Vidal Ordeig

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Patron Capital Team Up with Property Developers to Invest €60M in the Residential Sector

10 June 2019 – Eje Prime

Patron Capital is on the hunt for property developers to team up with to invest up to €60 million in the residential sector in Spain over the medium term.

In this vein, the company has already signed its first two joint ventures through which it plans to invest €30 million. The names of the property developers in this case have not been revealed.

The fund’s investment formula through joint ventures sees it contribute 80% of the capital, with the remaining 20% provided by the property developers.

The company currently has eight investment vehicles in Spain, which invest in tourist apartments, retail parks and office buildings. The agreements with the two local property developers will be its first foray into the residential sector.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

BlackRock Enters Hostel Sector Through the Creation of a JV with Amistat

7 June 2019 – Hosteltur

BlackRock Real Assets has acquired an initial portfolio of three hostels and six establishments in the pipeline from the Barcelona-based hostel chain Amistat Hostels through the creation of a joint venture worth €100 million.

Specifically, Amistat currently operates two establishments in Spain: the Amistat Beach Hostel in Barcelona and the Amistat Island Hostel in Ibiza, and is also building another hostel in Barcelona. In addition, it has signed agreements to open another six hostels in Rome, Porto, Lisbon, Dublin and London.

According to Thomas Mueller, European Head of Value-Added Real Estate at BlackRock, this transaction represents a great business opportunity as although the hostel market has attracted a growing number of institutional investors in recent years, it is still an undervalued sector, due to its fragmented nature and “very low brand penetration”.

Original story: Hosteltur

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Redevco on the Hunt for Mixed-Use Buildings to Join the Rental Housing Bandwagon

3 June 2019 – El Confidencial

A few months ago, Redevco, one of the largest players in the commercial real estate sector in Europe, announced the launch of a €500 million fund aimed at creating a pan-European portfolio of 2,500 rental homes. The aim is to focus primarily on the Netherlands and Germany, but with Spain and the UK accounting for a significant share.

In Spain, the company is now analysing various operations with the aim of closing one or more during the second half of this year. The shopping centre specialist is considering all kinds of strategies, from acquiring properties already for rent to teaming up with property developers and buying assets to renovate.

It is mainly focusing on mixed-used properties in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao, with an average investment volume of around €20 million per asset. Its aim is to acquire entire properties, rather than small or dispersed assets and it is looking for two-bedroom homes with an average monthly rent of €1,000.

In Spain, Redevco’s commercial portfolio comprises 32 properties worth €800 million. It also operates a joint venture with Ares to invest €500 million in shopping centres, which currently owns the Mercado de San Miguel and Parque Corredor, both in Madrid.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

De Agostini Makes its Debut in Spanish Real Estate through DeA Capital

10 April 2019 – Voz Pópuli

The De Agostini group has announced its decision to make its debut in Spain and Portugal, where it will operate through DeACapital Real Estate Iberia.

The firm has been constituted as a joint venture, owned 72% by the Italian group DeA Capital S.p.A. and 28% by the local management team, led by Koldo Ibarra as the CEO.

The new company will primarily invest in offices and logistics assets across the Iberian peninsula.

DeA Capital S.p.A. is currently the largest Alternative Asset Management platform in Italy with assets under management worth €11.2 billion.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alberto Ortín)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Antonio Catalán Sells the Rest of AC Hoteles to Marriott

31 March 2019 – El País 

Marriott, the largest hotel conglomerate in the world with 7,300 establishments in its portfolio, has today acquired the remaining 40% of the share capital in AC Hoteles for €140 million. The two brands first joined forces back in 2011 when the US group entered a joint venture with the Spanish firm at height of the economic crisis.

The new operation will involve the dissolution of the joint companies and the creation of a new one, which will allow Antonio Catalán (Navarra, 1948), in his capacity as President of AC by Marriott, to use any of the hotel giant’s brands, not only AC and Autograph. In this way, he is thinking of entering the tourist segment on the Costa del Sol and the tourist apartment business in Sevilla.

The businessman manages 76 hotels (65 in Spain, 10 in Italy and 1 in Portugal) through the company Belagua 2013. In 2017, the latest year for which accounts are available, that company recorded revenues of €188 million and generated a net profit of €71 million, which is expected to grow by 8% in 2018. Catalán also owns other companies with individual hotels, bringing his total revenues to €260 million.

In Spain, AC Hoteles is working on several hotel openings in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Madrid, Cartagena and Andorra, assets that will operate under the AC by Marriott brand. It is also working on openings in Sevilla, Valencia and Bilbao, which will operate under the Autograph Collection brand.

Original story: El País (by Carmen Sánchez-Silva)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

TPG, Round Capital & Ares Enter Final Round of Bidding for Témpore

12 March 2019 – El Independiente

Sareb has reactivated the sale of its Socimi Témpore Properties and the funds TPG, Round Capital and Ares are some of the candidates in the final round of bidding.

The bad bank was close to signing the transaction last year but called it off due to a lack of transparency. Then, it was the US investment fund TPG, shareholder of companies such as Spotify, Airbnb and Burger King, who was the likely buyer of Témpore, which manages 2,249 residential homes worth €338 million.

Now, TPG is back in the final round of the new process, this time against two opponents. The real estate fund Round Hill already has a presence in Spain – just a few weeks ago it launched a joint venture with the fund KKR and the logistics firm Pulsar Properties to buy logistics platforms. Meanwhile, the US fund Ares has also starred in several transactions in Spain, particularly in conjunction with the Dutch real estate firm Redevco.

Témpore closed 2018 with a loss of €384,394, but is forecast to generate profits from 2020. Its portfolio of residential assets, which is managed by Azora, generated rental income of €7.3 million last year. Moreover, 80% of its assets are located in the metropolitan areas of major capitals and the rest are in areas with significant rental demand, such as Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Málaga and Almería.

Original story: El Independiente (by Ana Antón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Grupo Lar & Centerbridge Join Forces to Build Logistics Assets

10 March 2019 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate firm Grupo Lar has joined forces with the US private equity company Centerbridge to promote a portfolio of latest generation logistics warehouses.

The assets in the portfolio will primarily be located in Madrid and Barcelona, but opportunities will also be sought in Valencia, Málaga, Sevilla and the Pais Vasco.

The joint venture between the two firms will compete with another partnership launched in 2017 to invest in the logistics sector between the fund manager CBRE Global Investors and Montepino.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Generali Creates New Retail JV with €500M to Invest in Shopping Centres

5 March 2019 – Eje Prime

Axis Retail Partners – that is the name of the new investment vehicle focusing on shopping centres that Generali has just launched. The insurance company holds a 51% stake in the company, which is going to invest €500 million in high-quality shopping centres across Europe.

The vehicle is expected to create its first fund, Generali Shopping Centres, during the second quarter of 2019, once the necessary approvals have been obtained. The fund’s expected annual return is 7%.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

The ‘Mercado de San Miguel’ Goes up for Sale Again for a Record Price: €100M

1 March 2019 – El Confidencial

The Mercado de San Miguel is up for sale again almost two years after being acquired by the joint venture between Redevco and Ares, which paid more than €70 million for the property. After repositioning the asset and increasing the rents, Ares has decided to exit the operation and reap the rewards of its investment (…). Nevertheless, the Dutch manager is not willing to divest its stake in this unique asset.

The expectations of the US fund in terms of the market value of the asset amount to around €100 million, which would represent a gain of 30%. If achieved, that figure would once again shatter all of the records in the real estate market. It is worth noting that the previous sale was the most expensive transaction per square metre ever paid in the Spanish real estate market.

For each one of its 1,200 square metres, the purchasers paid €60,000 (…). If another sale is signed, the records would be smashed again: at more than €80,000/m2.

The sources consulted by this newspaper explain that Ares has decided to divest the asset and that if Redevco wants to continue, then it will have to find another partner or acquire the fund’s stake. There is not going to be an organised sales process, but rather the operation is moving off-market (…).

Revaluation of the asset

As both companies announced in a statement in October last year, the joint venture has improved the yield on the property through their active management and has added value to the asset by attracting new gastronomic offerings, such as Rocambolesc by Jordi Roca, a 3-Michelin star pastry chef; Paella, by Rodrigo de la Calle, another chef with 1 Michelin star (…); Kirei, by Ricardo Sanz (…) and Tacos, Margaritas & Punto, by Roberto Ruiz, chef at Punto MX (…).

Those gastronomic offerings are provided alongside the traditional meat, fish and fruit stands, which offer first-rate products for which the market is so well known (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz & C. Hernanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake