Tag: Klépierre

French fund Klépierre Acquires Plenilunio For €375M

17 March 2015 – Cinco Días

The shopping centre in Madrid, which measures 70,000 square metres, is home to brands such as H&M, Primark and Media Markt.

The active market for the sale and purchase of shopping centres in Spain recorded another milestone yesterday. The French fund Klépierre announced the acquisition of the Plenilunio shopping centre in Madrid, from Orion Capital Managers for €375 million. The transaction had been in the pipeline for months and was expected to close during the first half of the year.

The Plenilunio shopping centre is located in Madrid and measures 70,000 square metres. It is home to brands such as Primark (where the Irish company has its largest store in Spain, although its flagship store on Gran Vía will take over that title when it opens later this year); Inditex, Mercadona, H&M, Mango and Media Markt.

The transaction announced yesterday is the second largest ever involving a shopping centre in Spain. The largest involved the sale of Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza. The investment fund Orion, which was also the vendor of Plenilunio, received €451 million from that sale. Through these two transactions, which have taken place within four months of each other, more than €820 million has changed hands in the sale and purchase of shopping centres. The third largest sale in Spain was also closed in 2014 involving the Marineda City shopping centre in La Coruña, which was sold for €260 million.

Plenilunio is the first large sale to be closed in 2015, after record figures were registered in the shopping centre real estate market in 2014 – total investment amounted to €2,500 million, according to data from the Spanish Shopping Centre Association (‘Asociación Española de Centros y Parques Comerciales’ or AECC). The organisation itself thinks repeating the volume recorded last year again this year will be challenging.

The sector’s trade association also highlighted the importance of contributions from overseas funds to ensuring that investment volumes in Spain are higher than their pre-crisis levels. The French firm that has acquired Pleniluno already has a presence in the country through the La Gavia and Príncipe Pío shopping centres in Madrid; Meridiano in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Maremagnum in Barcelona.

Turnover of €21 million per year

The French investment group confirmed yesterday in a statement that it expects the Plenilunio shopping centre, which had an occupancy rate of 99.3% at the end of last year, to generate annual revenues of €21 million. Its turnover increased by 15% last year. The fund said it has “plans to differentiate” the property, which (it expects) will result in improved cash flows.

Klépierre reported that it had paid the €375 million consideration using its own funds. The group ended last year with liquidity of €2,700 million. Nevertheless, according to the statement, it does not rule out (the possibility of taking out) a mortgage loan (on the property). The company estimates that it has assets in Spain valued at €1,400 million. PwC advised Klépierre on the transaction and Cushman and Wakefield advised Orion.

The French group confirmed that Plenilunio is a “dominant shopping destination” in Madrid, with more than 10.5 million visitors per year and a catchment area of 1.5 million inhabitants. Its proximity to the centre of the city, its visibility from the main arteries (roads) into and out of the city and its good public transport links are the main attractive features for the company. It said that 14,000 homes are currently being built in the area, which in general has a purchasing power than is 30% higher than the Spanish average and where 33% of the population falls into the highest income bracket.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Diego Larrouy)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Klépierre Close To Finalising Its Purchase Of Plenilunio

20 February 2015 – Modaes

The French company Klépierre, which specialises in the management of retail properties, is putting the finishing touches to its purchase of the Plenilunio shopping centre. The retail complex located in Madrid is one of the largest in Spain with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 70,000 square metres.

In the final stretch of the sales process, Klépierre has overtaken the fund manager Tiaa Henderson and the German fund Invesco, which have also been bidding for the property in recent weeks.

Currently, Plenilunio is owned by the fund Orion. Klepierre would be willing to pay between €380 million and €390 million for the shopping centre, which comes close to the asking price set by the current owners (€400 million). Negotiations beween Orion and Klépierre are now in full swing and a deal could be reached within the next few days. The sale of Plenilunio would break the record for the purchase of a shopping centre in Spain.

The Madrilenian centre occupies a surface area of 220,000 square metres, of which 70,000 square metres are leasable. Some of the most important fashion brands have stores in the centre, including H&M, Inditex and Primark; the latter operates its largest store in Spain in this centre.

Klépierre has an asset portfolio valued at €14,000 million and has a presence in thirteen European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

Original story: Modaes

Translation: Carmel Drake

Intu’s €2,500m Plan To Dominate The Retail Sector In Spain

16 February 2015 – Expansión

The group Intu Properties is completing the exercise of its call option over a real estate project in Málaga, as part of a €2,500 million investment program launched by the British company to become the leading shopping centre operator in Spain.

The developer, which last year spent €613 million on the acquisition of Parque Principado (Asturias) and Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) expects to hand over €41 million to the Peel Group for the purchase of a plot of land near Torremolinos, which has a licence for the construction of a retail and leisure complex measuring 175,000 square metres. According to the company, subsequent investment in this development, which will take three years to construct, will amount to €250 million.

In addition, Intu is considering other options to develop shopping centres in Vigo, Valencia and Mallorca. “Our objective is to become the market leader in the ownership, development and management of large regional (shopping) centres across Spain”, said the group. It is looking to replicate its model in the UK, where it operates 18 retail complexes all over the country.

HSBC estimates that the six shopping centres that Intu now owns or plans to acquire in Spain represent a total outlay of €2,500 million; the bank financed €320 million of the acquisitions in Asturias and Zaragoza. Stephen Bramley-Jackson, an analyst at the entity, said that “Intu’s real estate portfolio in Spain has the capacity to equal that of the current market leader for this type of property, Unibail-Rodamco, in terms of total investment”.

The Franco-Dutch group now has 16 (shopping) centres in Spain, after it sold the ones it owned in Albacete and Torrevieja last year. The average size of their shopping centres is smaller than those of Intu, which seeks to focus its investment in complexes measuring more than 100,000 square metres. In 2014, Unibail-Rodamco generated revenues of €147.1 million from the rental of its Spanish properties. Rental income from Parque Principado and Puerto Venecia amounted to €28.6 million.

The two other major players in this sector are Klepierre and Corio, which have invested around €500 million in shopping centres in Spain in recent years.

To maintain its role as market leader, Unibail-Rodamco has invested €600 million in several projects: it plans to expand two centres in Barcelona and construct two new centres in Palma de Mallorca and Benidorm. However, the firm has put the brakes on the development of the Oceania centre in Valencia.

Unibail and Intu seem set to share the market without competing directly in the same geographical areas. Intu, for example, has not yet launched any projects in Madrid or Barcelona, whereas its rival has a significant number of properties there. Meanwhile, Unibail does not have any centres in Asturias, Zaragoza, Malaga or Galicia. The slow down in the development of Oceania leaves the way open for Intu to develop its gigantic Puerto Mediterráneo centre, measuring 300,000 square metres in the Valencian town of Paterna. The two companies have parallel plans in Mallorca only, although Unibail’s Palma Springs centre is more advanced and looks set to open at the end of 2016.

According to Intu, the opportunity that it sees in Spain to launch new projects is focused on the regions “where ownership of shopping centres is fragmented and there is not currently a dominant destination for retail and leisure”.

With a market value of GBP 4,800 million (€6,480 million) and debt amounting to GBP 4,000 million, according to analysts at Investec, the British company is looking for partners for its Spanish ventures. The pension fund manager Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board acquired 50% of Parque Principado and may participate in other projects, according to HSBC. In addition, Intu Properties is evaluating the possibility of publicly listing its Spanish subsidiary or some of its (shopping) centres to secure foreign capital.

Some analysts wonder whether Intu has arrived too late in Spain, given that property prices are already recovering. The expected rental yield at Puerto Venecia (acquired in December 2014) is 5%, compared with 7.2% for Parque Principado, which was purchased in October 2013.

In terms of the next steps, Intu’s shareholders must approve the group’s purchase of the project in Malaga.

Original story: Expansión (by Roberto Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Klépierre, Invesco And TH Offer €350m For Plenilunio

19 January 2015 – Expansión

The home straight/ Orion receives three binding offers for the Plenilunio Retail Park. Unibail Rodamco withdraws from the process.

The sales process for one of the largest shopping centres in Madrid is in its final stages with three finalists. The French company Klépierre and the funds Tiaa Henderson (TH) and Invesco have all submitted binding offers for the property.

Invesco is the latest candidate to join the bid for the centre; the French-Dutch group Unibail Rodamco has withdrawn from the process. The shopping centre operator had expressed interest in acquiring Plenilunio to create a Golden Triangle in Madrid, as the owner of three landmark properties: La Vaguada, ParqueSur and through this transaction, Plenilunio. However, the high price offered by its competitors has put pay to Unibail Rodamco’s aspirations, explain industry sources. The British real estate company Grosvenor has also expressed interest in the centre, according to real estate sources.

Thus, TH – which bid alongside a sovereign fund -, Invesco and Klépierre would all be willing to pay €350 million for this property, which occupies a surface area of 220,000 square metres. Plenilunio has 70,000 square metres of retail space (GLA), distributed over three floors, plus 2,500 parking spaces, according to the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres. The property, which has an occupancy rate of almost 98%, generates annual rental income of €20 million.

Upon receipt of the binding offers, the current owner, the US fund Orion, must choose whether to negotiate with a single finalist or to conduct a final competition with two of the finalists. It is expected to take this decision quickly as it aims to close the sale during the first quarter of 2015, as revealed by Expansión on 17 December.

Plenilunio, which opened in May 2006, was developed by the Spanish real estate firm Riofisa (acquired soon after by Colonial). Before its opening, Banco Santander bought the property for €275 million, and then sold it onto Orion for €235 million in 2009.

The US fund controls the property through its company Orion Columba which adopted a Socimi structure in September 2013. The sale of Plenilunio is the second large divestment that Orion has undertaken in Spain in recent months – it closed the sale of the Puerto Venecia shopping centre in Zaragoza at the end of 2014. The property, the largest in Spain, was acquired by the British real estate company, Intu Properties for €451 million. In October 2013, Orion paid €144.5 million for the 50% of the centre that it did not already own.

Plenilunio is one of 80 shopping centres expected to change hands over the next few months in Spain, according to Deloitte Real Estate. In 2014, more than €2,100 million was invested in shopping centres across the country, driven by the sale of Marineda in La Coruña for €260 million and Islazul in Madrid for €232 million.

Original story: Expansión (Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Unibail, Klépierre, TH Vie For Plenilunio Retail Park

17/12/2014 – Expansion

The sale of the Plenilunio shopping mall in Madrid has entered in the final stretch. After a month of considering bids, U.S. fund Orion gave priority to three offers.

The establishment invoked vivid interest among large funds looking to buy a piece of the Spanish real estate for themselves. Finally, the winner will be chosen from among three finalists: fund manager Tiaa Henderson (TH), French-Dutch giant Unibail Rodamco and the Klépierre group. The last one closed jointly 127 retail units in Spain, France and Italy at the end of 2013.

Each of the bids is said to oscillate around 330 million euros.

The three-storey shopping center has a 220.000 square meter area, including a 70.000 sqm gross lettable space (GLA). Moreover, the deal includes more than 2.500 parking spaces, of which 2.000 are found underground. According to sources from the industry, 200 shops inside the establishment are 98% occupied.

The sale of the Plenilunio will be the deal of the year, beating the current top 3 transactions: 260 million euros paid for the Marineda mall in La Coruña by Merlin Properties, the 232 million amount which TH put for the Islazul retail park in Madrid and the volume of 153 million transferred for the Boulevard, Vitoria, by ING.

Orion’s goal is to close the operation before the year ends but the chances are the process will be prolonged until the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Currently, the U.S. fund manages the unit through Orion Columba, prepared to become listed as a Socimi (Spanish counterpart of a REIT vehicle).

As Deloitte Real Estate reported, in the eleven months from January to November, almost 30 shopping centers have changed hands, involving a total amount of nearly 1.63 billion euros.

Opened in 2006, the Plenilunio was developed by Riofisa (later on bought out by Colonial). In September 2005, it was purchased by Banco Santander for 275 million euros. In 2009, the bank sold the property to Orion for 235 million euros.

In spite of the disposal of the Plenilunio, Orion still owns the Puerto Venecia, Zaragoza, Spain’s biggest shopping mall. Originally shared fifty-fifty with British Land, the fund bought its partner’s share in October 2013 for 144.5 million euros.

 

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

From January to September, Klepierre Earns Less YoY

24/10/2014 – Mis Locales

The French retail park operator gained in Spain by 31% less from January to September in comparison to the same period of time in 2013.

Specifically, year-to-date Klepierre earned €36.9 million in this country, while a year before the firm registered an €53.5 million total income.

However, comparable sales of its mainland shopping centers boosted Klepierre’s business by 6.1%.

 

Original article: Mis Locales

Translation: AURA REE

Klépierre Earns 18% Less In Spain On The Renting Of Its Shopping Centres In The First Half

08/08/2014 – Europa Press

The group as a whole earns €702 million in the first six months, 18 times more than in the prior period.

Klépierre, a Company dedicated to shopping centres, retail and offices, has earned 24.2 million euros in the first half of 2014 from the rental income of its shopping centres in Spain, 18% less than the 29.5 million euros in the same period in 2013.

According to a company statement, this decrease is a consequence of the sale of a portfolio of 63 shopping centres in Spain to Carrefour, a transaction which was completed last April.

Nevertheless, the company points out that in Spain, the net income per lease increased 3,5% in like for like terms, boosted by the trends in Madrid’s La Gavia shopping centre and the Meridiano centre in Tenerife, which benefitted from the opening of a Primark store in February.

Furthermore, the Company underlines that the economic outlook has become positive in all the countries in which it operates, including Spain and Italy, which are emerging from their respective recessions.

In Spain, it highlights that sales in shopping centres have shown a “consistent” improvement since the beginning of the year, which led to an increase in sales of 3% in the first five months of the year, thanks to the boost of the shopping centres of La Gavia(+4.9%) and Meridiano (+10.3%).

Meanwhile, the total revenue of the group in Spain in the first six months of the year was 28,4 million euros, which represents a decrease of 20,4% compared with the 35,7 million euros of a year ago.

The group earns 18 times more.

As for the group as a whole, it had a net profit of 702,8 million euros in the first six months of the year, which represents 18 times more than the 39 million euros which it earned in the same period of the prior year.

The net income from the group’s leases reached 398,7 million euros, a decrease of 4,8% compared with the 418,7 million euros a year ago.

The president of Klépierre, Laurent Morel, stressed that the company has recorded “solid” results in the first half, thanks to its strong leasing activity and the operating efficiencies in all of its regions. “Klépierre has clearly emerged much stronger from the recent thorough restructuring of its portfolio”, he added.

Original article: Europa Press
Translation: Aura REE

Carrefour – Real Estate Mega Transaction

(…) Carrefour Property has finalized sales of about a hundred of business premises, practically half of which is situated in Spain. The rest is divided between France and Italy. Carrefour´s real estate branch will pay the French group Klépierre (the Europe´s second shopping center operator) between 1.700 and 2.000 million Euros for the assets, according to the sources close to the operation.

The purchase will make Carrefour Property the second greatest owner of shopping centers in Europe, giving way only to the French-Dutch giant, Unibail Rodamco.

New Owner

The decision to sell the 127 properties was made in less than a year after Klépierre had bought them from a Northern American giant Simon Property. In 2012, French bank BNP Paribas transferred 28.7% of the shopping center company for 1.524 million Euros. The new owner is specialised in development and management of shopping malls. (…)

The operation will entirely affect Klépierre´s Spanish portfolio. Before the agreement, the French group owned 76 assets, scattered in all provinces of Spain. Most of them are shopping arcades (areas of smaller space than a shooping center, where the majority of space is occupied by super- or hipermarket) with average of 20.000 square meters.

Klépierre has got centers of this type in Las Rozas, Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid) and in La Coruña. Among those of larger size, Los Prados in Oviedo and Augusta in Zaragoza are to highlight. Moreover, the French giant owns shopping centers like La Gavia in Madrid or Meridiano on Gran Canaria.

40 Shopping Arcades

(…) In the startup package offered to Carrefour, Klépierre included 40 shopping arcades and 5 large shopping centers, like Augusta. The company´s aim is to focus on big complexes, however it has decided to attach some of its real estate jewels in the country to make the package offer more attractive and earn better assessment on Carrefour´s side.

(…) During the first 9 months of 2013, Klépierre invested 53.5 million Euros in rent of its property, 4.3% less on like-on-like basis than last year. The occupancy rates of its centers and arcades overcome 90%. On the global level, its sales figure was equal to 813.8 millions, 13.8% more than 749.1 millions flowing from the rents.

Klépierre´s patrimony scattered in 13 European countries has been estimated at 16.200 million Euros on June 30th.

European Giant

Carrefour Property was set up in 2008. (…) It is present in France, Spain and Italy (…). Totally, its assets are valued at 10.200 million Euros. In Spain it appeared in 2009, owning about 100 centers valued at 3.000 millions. Its last 2 projects are Holea shopping center in Huelva and As Cancelas in Santiago.

This is not the first business that Carrfour and Klépierre did together. In September 2011, they exchanged 6 properties in Spain. Precisely, Carrefour Property bought a shopping arcade of Carrefour hipermarket of Huelva while Klépierre acquired various comercial areas and construction rights in La Gavia (Vallecas-Madrid), San Juan de Aznalfarache (Seville) and in Elche, where it bought 3 medium size areas.

Source: Expansión