Tag: JV

Arrasate & Ibosa: Favourites in the Bid to Build Bilbao’s Star Residential Project

28 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Up to eight property developers are willing to pay between €30 million and €50 million to build residential properties in Bilbao. The two favourites in the battle are Arrasate and Grupo Ibosa, which have submitted two of the highest offers for this housing plan, which forms part of Project Garellano and which is being managed by Bilbao Ría 2000.

One of the key factors behind Arrasate and Ibosa’s strong chances of winning the tender is that both have the architect Richard Rogers in their project, which gives them an extra 5% in their scores. The vast majority of the score (75%) in the auction corresponds to the economic offer, and the remaining 20% relates to the assessment of the business plan and the construction, according to El Confidencial.

The future tower will be 119 m tall and will comprise 36 storeys in which 200 homes will be constructed. The location of the residential property will be prime, given that it is being built right in the heart of the city.

The plot that the public company Bilbao Ría 2000 has put up for sale has a surface area of 2,247 m2 and a buildability of more than 25,000 m2. The building will also have five underground floors with 235 parking spaces and storerooms for its future inhabitants.

In addition to Arrasate, a Basque cooperative manager (…) and Ibosa, the company led by Juan José Perucho, other companies participating in the auction for this development include the listed company Neinor Homes, ACR and a JV between the Madrid-based property developer Pryconsa and the local firm Amenabar.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Values its Stake in the JV with Blackstone at €1.566bn

16 May 2018 – Expansión

Santander has recorded on its balance sheet its 49% stake in the company that it has created with Blackstone for a value of €1,566 million. The stake has been recognised in the portfolio of investments in joint ventures and associated companies. The bank and the US fund, which controls the remaining 51% of the JV’s share capital, constituted the company on 22 March. The alliance, a conglomerate of companies grouped together under the parent company, Project Quasar Investments 2017, brings together the former real estate portfolio of Popular. It contains gross assets worth €30 billion, which have been appraised at €10 billion net under the framework of the transaction.

Meanwhile, the two partners have now agreed on the configuration of the Board of Directors for the joint venture. The governance body will comprise seven members. In line with the distribution of the share capital and its control of the management of the assets, Blackstone will have a majority of four positions on the Board, including that of Chairman.

Santander will be represented by three directors. One of them is Javier García Carranza, the executive to whom the entity chaired by Ana Botín has entrusted the process to clean up Popular’s balance sheet. García Carranza is the Deputy CEO of Grupo Santander and a member of Popular’s Administration Board, a transition body that will disappear once the legal merger of the two banks has been completed. García Carranza also represents Santander on the boards of Sareb, Metrovacesa and the real estate manager Altamira, amongst other companies.

The other directors linked to Santander that will sit on the Board of the joint venture are Carlos Manzano and Jaime Rodríguez-Andrade, specialists in real estate investments and asset recoveries, respectively.

Meanwhile, Diego San José, Head of Blackstone’s Real Estate division in Spain is going to be the Chairman of the company. Eduard Mendiluce, Jean Francois Bossy and Jean Christophe Dubois are the other directors who have been appointed by the fund.

In order to launch the company, Santander and Blackstone have subscribed a syndicated loan amounting to €7,332 million. Several banks have participated in the loan, which is led by Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and RBS, as well as Blackstone itself, which has contributed €1 billion. The financing has been signed over a 5-year term and matures in 2023.

The sale of Popular’s real estate portfolio and the deconsolidation of the assets have resulted in a 10 point improvement in Santander’s core capital ratio. Its solvency now stands at 11%, the target for 2018.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Greystar, AXA IM–Real Assets & GIP Buy Spanish Student Housing Provider Resa

7 December 2017 – PE Hub

Greystar Real Estate Partners has acquired Spain-based Resa, a student accommodation provider. The acquisition was made via a joint venture partnership that includes AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets and CBRE Global Investment Partners. No financial terms were disclosed.

Greystar Real Estate Partners (“Greystar”), a global leader in the investment, development, and management of rental housing properties, closed today, through a joint venture (“JV”) partnership, on the acquisition of Resa, the largest student accommodation provider in Spain. The JV includes AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets (“AXA IM – Real Assets”) and CBRE Global Investment Partners (GIP), both acting on behalf of clients, who have acquired the substantial majority holding in the portfolio in equal sized shares, while Greystar has bought the remaining balance and will act as property, development and asset manager for the portfolio. The deal is the largest investment transaction in student housing on the Iberian Peninsula.

The previously announced JV partnership marks Greystar’s first investment in Spain and will serve as a platform to build a diversified rental housing business and portfolio with backing from global institutional capital.

“The Resa portfolio is undoubtedly Spain’s premier student accommodation provider and will provide Greystar with a significant presence in the prime markets of Madrid and Barcelona on which to build out a diversified Spanish rental housing platform,” said Wes Fuller, Executive Managing Director of Greystar’s Investment Management business. “We are excited by the tremendous opportunity in the country, and look forward to bringing Greystar’s proven business model and institutional capital to the Spanish market for the long term.”

Resa is Spain’s market leader in student accommodation managing 9,309 student beds in 19 Spanish cities, including tier one cities Madrid and Barcelona, in addition to Andalucía, Cataluña, Galicia, Navarra, Pais Vasco, Salamanca and Valencia. Resa, managed by Azora since 2011, has experienced significant growth during this period, increasing from 26 to 37 residences, of which four are currently under development. The JV portfolio will continue to trade under the Resa brand with Greystar assuming responsibility for overall management. Resa will operate as a fully Greystar-owned and managed business.

In addition to the Resa acquisition, Greystar together with its strategic long-term partners plans to invest further in the Spanish rental housing market, including additional student, young professional and senior housing for rent. Greystar is currently evaluating a pipeline of opportunities across Spain and Portugal including Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and other key Iberian cities.

“We are thrilled to add this high-quality well-established portfolio to Greystar’s growing European platform. As a global provider of rental housing, we are constantly looking for opportunities to expand into attractive new markets, and this acquisition does exactly that,” said Steven Zeeman, Greystar’s Managing Director of Continental Europe. “Spain is one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies with a serious shortage of purpose-built rental accommodation suitable for students and young professionals. Home ownership in the country has fallen in recent years, particularly with the country’s young and highly mobile urban population wanting a flexible alternative.

Despite this healthy appetite for new rental housing, construction has failed to keep pace with demand. The rental housing sector remains highly fragmented, with no established market for the type of purpose-built rental accommodation known as multifamily in the United States. Our investment strategy will allow us to develop a significant multifamily pipeline in Spain and grow our platform to realize the potential we see in the country.” (…).

About Greystar

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated multifamily real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development and property management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing over 420,000 units in over 130 markets globally, with an aggregate estimated value of approximately $80 billion. Greystar also has a robust institutional investment management platform dedicated to managing capital on behalf of a global network of institutional investors with over $23 billion in gross assets under management, including more than $8 billion of developments that have been completed or are underway. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a world-class class service in the rental housing real estate business.

Original story: PE Hub (by Iris Dorbian)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Resolution Property Re-enters Spanish Market With €100M JV

11 March 2016 – Press Release

Distressed luxury portfolio offers residential repositioning opportunity.

Resolution Property is re-entering the Spanish real estate market with a €100m joint venture to reposition a portfolio of luxury residential, hotels and land in Marbella.

The UK-based real estate investor is forming a 50:50 joint venture with a private investment partner to manage an existing €50m portfolio comprising 15 value-add assets in Marbella’s Golden Mile. The joint venture intends to invest up to a further €50m by growing the portfolio through distressed acquisitions and value-add asset management.

Resolution Property will provide expertise in niche residential repositioning, together with retail and leisure know-how, to complement its joint venture partner’s proven track record in the local area.

Michel Nangia of Resolution Property said:

“Marbella is a sheltered market, sustained by international high net-worth individuals. Furthermore, the wider Spanish economy continues its recovery, with declining unemployment and consistently positive GDP growth over more than two years. Against this backdrop, we have the opportunity to add significant value to this portfolio through an active asset management and refurbishment programme, and then grow the portfolio alongside a strong partner with access to off-market distressed opportunities on a scale enabling a future conversion into a Socimi.”

The joint venture represents the final investment for Resolution Real Estate Fund IV. It follows Resolution Property’s delivery of similar residential repositioning ventures in Switzerland and Denmark.

Resolution Property was an active investor in Spain and Portugal’s retail markets in the mid-2000s. The Marbella venture represents its return to the Spanish market, which it will also target for further acquisitions on behalf of its next fund, Resolution Real Estate Fund V, in which China’s Fosun Property will be the cornerstone investor.

Original story: Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Segro Plc Acquires Its First Assets In Spain For €10.4M

30 September 2015 – Company Press Release

Segro Plc has completed its first acquisition in Spain, with the purchase of 5.6 hectares of industrial land near Barcelona for €10.4 million. It purchased the plot, which has scope for the development of logistics platforms and warehouses measuring up to 36,800 m2, through its company Asociación Logística Europea SEGRO from Domar, SL.

The plot is located in the industrial area of Martorelles, approximately 20 km northeast of Barcelona, near the A7 and AP7 highways, which lead to France and the national highway network. The site is currently home to a disused industrial building, which will be demolished to make way for a new development that will be equipped to the latest-generation, highest quality facilities.

David Alcázar, Director of SEGRO in Spain, said:

“Securing a significant development opportunity in a privileged location is a great first step for the expansion of our logistics operations in Spain. We are going to continue our search for opportunities to grow our presence in the main markets of Barcelona and Madrid, focusing on development, since our aim is to provide high quality storage space in these markets”.

Martorelles is a magnificent setting, as it provides a strategic link between Spain and the rest of the continent. It is currently used by companies such as Coca Cola for manufacturing and distribution, as well as by Mango, which is constructing a 460,000 m2 distribution centre 8km away.

SEGRO was advised by Estrada & Partners, the company appointed to market the logistics platform.

About SEGRO and SEGRO Asociación Logística Europea (“SELP”):

SEGRO UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a market leader in the development and management of logistics platforms, storage facilities and data processing centres.

It owns and manages 5.7 million m2, with assets worth €6,000 million (as at 31 December 2014), serving 1,200 clients across a wide range of industrial sectors. Its properties are located on the outskirts of major conurbations and in key transport hubs in eight European countries, primarily France, Germany, Poland and UK.

SEGRO Asociación Logística Europea (“SELP”) is a JV company in which SEGRO owns a 50% stake. It was created in October 2013 and has €1,700 million in assets under management (as at 31 December 2014) in seven continental European countries. (…).

Estrada & Partners is a national real estate consultancy firm, specialising in the industrial and logistics sectors, as well as real estate investment. It renders the following services: brokerage, property management, asset valuations, consultancy and land development. It is currently marketing logistics parks comprising more than 200,000 m2 in Spain and it has three offices, in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Original story: Company Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hispania & Barceló Sign Binding JV Agreement

14 April 2015 – Press Release

After the successful completion of the due diligence process and in accordance with the agreed plan, Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios, S.A. has communicated to the Spanish Stock Market Regulator, CNMV, that its 100% subsidiary company, Hispania Real SOCIMI, S.A.U., and the Barceló Group have signed an agreement to define the terms of their joint venture, which has been established to allow the two companies to continue investing in hotel resorts in Spain. The terms of the agreement respond to those set in the framework agreement dated 24 February 2015.

According to Concha Osácar, Board Member of Hispania, “signing this agreement implies the formalisation of an investment that will be key for Hispania, considering the significant cash flow generation expected from the vehicle in the short term.”

According to Raúl González, CEO for EMEA at Hoteles Barceló, “this agreement will be key to enabling growth in the most important tourist areas in Spain”.

The main aspects of the agreement signed between Hispania and Barceló

On 24 February 2015, Hispania and Barceló announced a framework agreement for the creation of a JV, through which Hispania will acquire 11 hotels (3,946 keys) and 1 small shopping centre during the initial phase, with the option to acquire 5 additional hotels (2,151 keys) along with a second small shopping centre at a later date.

Once this transaction has been completed and the option for the 5 additional hotels has been exercised, Hispania will have invested circa €340 million, to obtain an 80.5% stake in the new joint venture. Grupo Barceló will maintain a 19.5% stake, with the option of acquiring up to 49% through future capital increases.

Barceló will continue to operate the hotels, which have been acquired by means of lease contracts for an initial period of 15 years.

The agreement signed by Hispania and Barceló will allow the JV to launch its ambitious plan to increase the portfolio of the new REIT, by means of acquisitions or further asset contributions. The goal is to, at least, double the size of the portfolio, creating a Spanish resort hotel portfolio with assets managed by diverse leading operators in this market.

Original story: Press release

Edited by: Carmel Drake