Tag: listing

Merlin Properties Will Join The Ibex 35 On 21 Dec

11 December 2015 – El Boletin

Spain’s stock market index has 35 members once more. The Socimi Merlin Properties is going to join the Ibex 35, taking over the vacant spot left by Abengoa following its expulsion after it requested to file for creditor bankruptcy in light of its dire financial situation.

The Socimi will join the index on 21 December. The adjustment to the Ibex 35 will happen once the trading session has closed on Friday 18 December (…). In this way, the withdrawal of the Sevillian renewable energy company, which had been expected to be a temporary measure, takes on a more definitive character.

Moreover, three companies are changing their applicable coefficient for the calculation of the key indicator on the Spanish stock market. CaixaBank and Indra will both take on a coefficient of 80% instead of the 60% and 100% that they previously held respectively, as a result of recent changes in their shareholder groupings. OHL will also see its weight reduced as it decreases its capital from 80% to 60%, according to a statement by the Technical Advisory Committee (‘Comité Asesor Técnico’ or CAT) of the Spanish stock market.

Both Merlin Properties, the star of the recent acquisition of Testa Inmobiliaria, the former real estate subsidiary of Sacyr; and Cellnex, the former telecommunications subsidiary of Abertis, were heavily tipped by the experts to be the candidates to take over from the Andalucían renewable energy company.

On Thursday, Merlin’s shares suffered a 1.27% decrease, falling to €11.66 per share. Nevertheless, so far this year, the real estate company’s share price has increased by more than 16%, during which time the Ibex 35 has lost 4.7% of its value.

Original story: El Boletin

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Socimi Zambal Debuts On MAB With 4.84% Rise

2 December 2015 – El Economista

The Socimi Zambal, owner of the ABC Serrano shopping centre, amongst other properties, has debuted on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternative Bursátil’ or MAB) with a 4.84% increase, after it recorded an initial price of €1.30/share, compared with the price it set to go public (€1.24).

Zambal, the eleventh real estate firm of its kind to debut on this market, is the owner of nine office and commercial buildings in Madrid and Barcelona.

Besides the ABC Serrano shopping complex, located in the centre of the capital, the firm is the landlord of Día, Unidad Editorial, BMW Ibérica, Enagás and Vodafone España, since it leases buildings in Madrid in which these companies have their respective corporate headquarters.

In the commercial sphere, Zambal is the owner of a property in Plaza de Cataluña in Barcelona, which El Corte Inglés occupies under a lease contract.

Zambal listed on the MAB under the ticker ‘YZBL’ and its shares were traded through a fixing system. At the first auction, held at 12:00h, the company sold 1,500 shares.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Fever Shakes Up The Stock Market

28 September 2015 – El Economista

After a flurry of activity during 2015, Spain now has 14 listed Socimis, of which 10 trade on the MAB. And this figure is expected to continue to grow over the coming months.

Last week, two Socimis went public on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternativo Bursátil’ or MAB). The first, Autonomy Spain, debuted with an increase of 1.52%, to €16.75.

Autonomy is the parent company of a group that currently comprises two sub-Socimis. The group’s real estate portfolio contains six office buildings – five located in the Community of Madrid and one in Cataluña.

A day later, it was the turn of the Socimi Corpfin Capital Prime Retail II, which became the tenth real estate investment company to go public on the MAB.

The company, which has already invested €75 million in retail premises in “prime” areas of Madrid, San Sebastián, Burgos and Vitoria, expects to invest a further €35 million before November 2016, whereby taking its total investment to €110 million.

This is the first Socimi that the private equity firm Corpfin Capital has listed publicly. The firm also has plans to list another Socimi, Corpfin Capital III, through which it holds joint investments in 8 real estate assets.

The week before, Zaragoza Properties, which owns a stake in the Puerto Venecia Shopping Resort shopping centre in Zaragoza, debuted on the MAB.

Also this year, the Socimi Obsido entered the market for small companies. Its growth plans involve the purchase of hotels in Spain’s principal tourist destinations.

In addition, Trajano Iberia debuted on the stock market (in July). It is managed and promoted by a division of Deutsche Bank, and focuses on “semi prime” offices in Madrid and Barcelona; “prime” offices in secondary cities, shopping centres, and logistics assets.

Also in July, Mercal went public with a portfolio of assets in strategic locations in Spain. Four months before that Uro Property Holding, which owns one third of Santander’s bank branches, began trading on the MAB with a valuation of €259.7 million.

The Socimis Entrecampos, Fidere and Promorent also trade on the MAB, but the largest Socimis, namely Merlin Properties, Hispania, Lar España Real Estate and Axiare, all trade on the main stock exchange. Between them, they had purchased assets amounting to more than €3,100 million as at the middle of August, strengthened by the funds raised through their respective capital increases.

Even Acciona is evaluating the possibility of creating a Socimi for its real estate assets, and this Monday, the General Shareholders’ Meeting of Testa is expected to approve the conversion of the company into a Socimi after it was acquired by Merlin.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

BlackRock Increases Stake In Merlin & Invests In Lar

25 September 2015 – Cinco Días

The fund BlackRock has strengthened its commitment to the Spanish Socimis, by increasing its stake in Merlin Properties to exceed the 5% threshold and by acquiring a stake in Lar España, snapping up 3.41% of the company’s shares.

In this way, the fund now has a combined total investment worth approximately €200 million in these two companies, based on the respective, current prices of the two companies on the stock market.

Specifically, BlackRock has increased its stake in Merlin from 3.20% to 5.516%, according to the register of Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

The fund increased its shareholding in Merlin, currently valued at €188 million, after the Socimi took control of Testa, the former subsidiary of Sacyr. Merlin, which is led by Ismael Clemente, plans to merge with Testa and whereby create the largest real estate company in the country, with total assets worth more than €5,000 million.

UBS also holds a stake of around 4% in this listed company.

Meanwhile, the shareholding acquired in Lar España is worth around €18 million. In this case, BlackRock joins several other investment funds and companies that already hold shares in the Socimi, such as Franklin Templeton Institutional, Pimco, Ameriprise Financial and Bestinver.

This summer, Lar España closed a €135 million capital increase and it will use the funds to continue its growth plans through the purchase of new assets.

Corpfin’s debut on MAB

Meanwhile, Corpfin Capital Prime Retail, the Socimi that manages retail premises on the some of the country’s most important high streets, will debut on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternativo Bursátil’ or MAB) today at a price of €1.60 per share, which values the company at €23.28 million.

Autonomy’s IPO

Corpfin will be the tenth Socimi to go public on the MAB after yesterday’s debut of Autonomy Spain Real Estate, whose shares closed trading up 1.52% at €16.75 per share. The company owns six office buildings.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corpfin Capital To Debut On MAB At €1.60/Share

24 September 2015 – Europa Press

Corpfin Capital Prime Retail, the Socimi that manages retail premises on several Spanish high streets, will make its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternativo Bursátil’ or MAB) this Friday 25 September, at a price of €1.60 per share, representing a company market value of €23.28 million.

Corpfin will be the tenth Socimi to go public on MAB after Autonomy Spain Real Estate, which is due to debut today (Thursday).

Corpfin manages 12 retail premises in total, located on the main shopping streets in Madrid, San Sebastián, Vitoria and Burgos.

In the capital, its assets are located on the so-called “Golden Mile”, in other words, on Calles Serrano and Goya, as well as on Calles Princesa and Fuencarral.

Corpfin explains that it “fully owns” the properties in which its retail premises are located, with the exception of the two buildings on Princesa and Goya.

Tenants

Corpfin’s tenants include brands from the textile group Inditex, Mango, Décimas, Vodafone and La Sureña.

The company is seeking to raise funds through its debut on the MAB, which it will use to finance its future growth and purchase new assets, as well as to open itself up to new investors.

Corpfin Capital Real Estate is led by Javier Basagoiti Miranda, a former director of Ferrovial Inmobiliaria and Martinsa Fadesa, who has 28 years of experience in the real estate sector. Mr Basagoiti Miranda is currently also a Senior Advisor at KPMG in the Corporate Finance & Real Estate team.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche’s Socimi Trajano Debuts On MAB With A 4% Rise

31 July 2015 – Expansión

The socimi Trajano Iberia, which is managed and promoted by a division of Deutsche Bank, has debuted on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternativo Bursátil’ or MAB) with a rise of 4.01%, which saw its share price increase to €10.38.

By 12:00h, 2,650 shares in the company had been traded for a total price of €27,507.

The company, which yesterday became the sixth socimi to list on the market, debuted on the stock market after completing a €94.8 million capital increase, carried out by investors in the Wealth Management division of Deutsche Bank in Spain.

The company debuted on the market at a price of €9.98 per share, according to Spain’s Stock Exchanges and Markets body (‘Bolsas y Mercados Españoles’ or BME).

Trajano’s shares are traded through a price-setting system, which matches supply and demand through two daily auctions or “fixings” (at 12:00h and 16:00h).

The socimi has its eyes firmly set on office assets in “semi prime” locations in Madrid and Barcelona and “prime” locations in secondary cities. It is also looking at shopping centres and retail parks, as well as logistics assets in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia and the País Vasco.

The company expects to complete its investments within a maximum period of 24 months, although that timeframe may be reduced in light of the strong sentimient that currently exist in the real estate sector.

The company is managed by the team responsible for the real estate division of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in Spain and Portugal.

Currently, the entity manages real estate assets worth more than €46,000 million around the world, and €740 million in Spain and Portugal.

Deloitte acted as the Registered Advisor and BEKA Finance as the liquidity provider. (…).

Since last year, several companies have listed on the stock market under the socimi structure, including: Lar España Real Estate, Hispania, Merlin Properties, Axiare and Uro Property.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche’s Socimi Trajano To List On MAB On 30 July

27 July 2015 – El Día

The Socimi Trajano Iberia, which is managed and promoted by a division of Deutsche Bank, will begin trading on the Alternative Investment Market (Mercado Alternativo Bursátil or MAB) on 30 July, whereby becoming the sixth listed real estate investment company to be publicly traded on the stock exchange.

Trajano will debut on the MAB once it has completed its €94.8 million capital increase, which is being led by investors of the Wealth Management division of Deutsche Bank in Spain.

Under the ticker “YTRA”, the company will debut on the stock market at a share price of €9.98, according to a statement by the Spanish Stock Exchanges and Markets (‘Bolsas y Mercados Españoles’ or BME).

The listing will be performed through a price-fixing system with the matching of supply and demand in two daily auctions or “fixing” periods (at 12:00h and 16:00h).

Trajano Iberia will invest in offices in “semi-prime” locations in Madrid and Barcelona and in “prime” areas of secondary cities. It will also seek out shopping centres and retail parks, as well as logistics assets in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia and the País Vasco.

According to the company’s strategic plan, Trajano Iberia will materialise its investments within a maximum period of 24 months, however the management team considers that this period could be reduced on the basis of the strong prospects that the real estate sector is currently enjoying.

The company will be managed by the team responsible for the real estate division of Deustche Asset & Wealth Management in Spain and Portugal.

Currently, Deutsche Bank manages real estate assets worth more than €46,000 million around the world and €740 million in Spain and Portugal.

Deloitte is acting as the registered advisor and BEKA Finance as the liquidity provider. Since last year, several companies have listed publicly under the Socimi structure.

The first company to debut on the stock exchange was Lar España Real Estate, on 5 March, with initial capital of €400 million. The next company to list in the sector was Hispania, the listed company controlled by the fund manager Azora and owned by the multimillionaires George Soros and John Paulson, who subsequently created a Socimi through which they have made several purchases.

Meanwhile on 30 June, the Socimi Merlin Properties, starred in the largest IPO since 2011 with a valuation of €1,250 million. Axiare also listed on the stock exchange, with a valuation of €360 million, as did Uro Property, the Socimi that owns one third of Santander’s branches.

Original story: El Día

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone To List Its Socimi ‘Fidere Patrimonio’ On MAB

25 June 2015 – El Mundo

Blackstone is going to list Fidere Patrimonio on the Alternative Investment Market (‘Mercado Alternativo Bursátil’ or MAB). The Socimi was constituted with a stock of social housing purchased by  the private equity firm in Madrid in recent years. The shares in the new Socimi will start trading on Monday 29 June, at €21.08 per share. This price represents a company valuation of €212 million.

Blackstone created Fidere Patrimonio with a portfolio of 23 social housing developments (rental properties), containing 2,688 apartments, which the fund has bought over the last few years, mainly in the Community of Madrid. (…).

With this IPO on the MAB, Blackstone seeks not only to comply with the rules governing Socimis, but also to acquire a financing mechanism for raising funds, which will to drive the future growth of the company, and will also “raise the company’s profile and attract new shareholders”.

In this sense, Fidere Patrimonio says that it will focus its investment policy on new companies with real estate portfolios owned by Blackstone’s investment funds and on “analysing new investment opportunities that arise in the market”.

‘Solvent’ tenants

However, the Socimi has said that, for the time being, it will focus on managing its current portfolio of homes “with the aim of increasing shareholders’ returns”. To this end, it has revealed that its leasing policy for social housing is based on “selecting tenants who are economically solvent and who have long-term visibility over their income”, in order to increase the occupancy rate of its homes.

Specifically, the company asks its tenants to provide their last two payslips and then checks that the percentage rental spend will not exceed 40% of their (respective) salary; it also performs checks to confirm that prospective tenants are not registered on Asnef’s credit black list. (…).

Blackstone’s Socimi is aiming to secure an occupancy rate of between 80% and 95% for its housing stock, compared with its current rate of 76% and the 2014 year-end rate of 68%.

Profits and dividends

Meanwhile, Fidere Patrimonio closed 2014 with a net profit of €1.6 million, whereby overcoming the “losses” that it had recorded in the previous year. The Socimi’s turnover amounted to €5.54 million, of which €4.6 million was generated by the social housing in Madrid that the fund purchased from the EMV.

In terms of financing, the firm has financial net debt of around €65.7 million, equivalent to 22% of the market value of its assets. The company considers that this “reduced” leverage will encourage the payment of dividends.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Finalises MAB Listing Of Its VPOs In Spain

3 June 2015 – Expansión

Almost 3,000 VPOs / The US fund is completing the final steps for the IPO of its Spanish subsidiary Fidere Patriomonio on MAB. It will do so through a small private placement, advised by Renta 4 and Clifford Chance.

The social housing that Blackstone owns in Spain will be listed on the stock exchange within the next few weeks. The US fund is working on the debut of its subsidiary, the Socimi Fidere Patrimonio, on the Alternative Stock Exchange (Mercado Alternativo Bursátil or MAB); the subsidiary  purchased almost 3,000 social housing properties (VPO) during the crisis.

The US investor has engaged Renta 4 as its advisor and Clifford Chance as its legal advisor for its market debut. The operation, which is still pending approval by several authorities, will replicate the model used by Uro Property, the Socimi that owns a third of Santander’s branch network in Spain.

Thus, Fidere Patrimonio will float by listing – through a private placement – the minimum amount of capital required by law, i.e. around €2 million. The Socimi will list on the MAB with the goal of not losing the tax relief afforded to this kind of company, including exemptions for the payment of Corporation Tax.

Progress

As part of the listing process, Fidere has: appointed Iberclear as the accounting entity; created a website for investors; and amended its bylaws.

According to Blackstone, the MAB listing will be completed before the summer. Fidere’s market debut comes at a time when the local and regional election results are threatening to change the rules of the game with respect to the public sale of social housing.

In fact, Blackstone purchased the majority of its 3,000 VPO homes from the Municipal Company for Land and Housing (Empresa Municipal de Vivienda y Suelo or EMVS). The US fund paid €125.5 million for 18 residential developments in July 2013, which included 1,860 homes in total. The developments are located in the Madrilenian neighbourhoods of Carabanchel, Centro, Villa de Vallecas and Villaverde.

Subsequently, the fund complemented Fidere’s portfolio with other transactions. In November 2013, it purchased another 420 VPO homes from FCC for just over €30 million.

Two months later, the US fund won the auction to buy 600 VPO homes from Sareb, for which it paid almost €50 million. Most of the homes came from Catalunya Banc and Bankia, and were located in Madrid, Barcelona and Guadalajara.

In August 2014, Blackstone closed its final major purchase of VPO homes. The fund acquired 26 of Bankia’s real estate development companies, which included 3,000 homes in different stages of development: completed, under construction and in the initial phase. Initially, only one of the 26 companies has been included in Fidere.

Fidere’s board is led by two of Blackstone’s executives, Francois Bossy Jean – Chairman – and Diego San José – Director of the RE business at the fund – , together with an executive from the consultancy firm Magic Real Estate, Miguel Oñate.

Plans for growth

Beyond the listing on MAB, Blackstone is planning to continue to acquire rental housing so that Fidere can become one of the key players in this market in Spain. Once it is listed on the stock exchange, new investors will be able to enter through capital increases and the sale of shares.

With its stock market debut, Fidere will become the eighth Socimi to list on the stock market since the regulations changed at the end of 2013.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Zuloagar and R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CPPIB Buys 50% Of Puerto Venecia From Intu For €225.4M

3 June 2015 – Expansión

The Canadian fund has paid €225.4 million to the British real estate company Intu Properties for half of Puerto Venecia, the largest shopping centre in Spain.

Intu Properties and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have strengthened their partnership in Spain, through the creation of a joint venture to manage Puerto Venecia, the largest shopping centre in the country, located in Zaragoza, which has a constructed surface area of 200,000 m2.

According to a statement issued yesterday, CPPIB is going to pay €225.4 million to Intu for 50% of Puerto Venecia, although – “the operation is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approval”.

The valuation of the shop and restaurant complex, located in Zaragoza, is the same as the one used by Intu in January when it purchased 100% of the property from the fund Orion Capital for €451 million. Then, the British real estate company announced that it was going to look for a partner, and several analysts identified CPPIB as a possible ally. PwC has advised the Canadian pension fund in its purchase.

Intu and CPPIB already share the ownership (50% each) of the Asturian shopping centre Parque Principado, which they acquired in 2013 for €162 million from CBRE and Sonae Sierra. Therefore, the Puerto Venecia operation “extends this alliance to include two of the ten largest shopping centres in Spain” said Intu Properties.

The British bank HSBC has financed the acquisitions of Puerto Venecia and Parque Principado with two mortgage loans amounting to €320 million in total.

Andrea Orlandi, CPPIB’s Director of RE Investments in Europe, sais that “the joint venture with Intu represents an opportunity to increase the fund’s presence in Spain’s commercial real estate market. Puerto Venecia complements our European portfolio”.

According to David Fischel, CEO at Intu, the revenues from this transaction will allow his company to develop other projects in Spain. The real estate firm has acquired a plot of land in Malaga for the construction of a shopping centre measuring 175,000 m2 and it is also evaluating options to develop other projects in Vigo, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca.

Intu intends to involve partners in these new projects as well, and may even create a holding company for its Spanish properties in the future, and list it on the stock exchange.

Intu’s share price fell by 2% during trading in London yesterday. Its market capitalisation amounts to GBP 4,380 million (€6,050 million).

Original story: Expansión (by Roberto Casado and Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake