Tag: market leader

Idealista: Hotel Inv’t to Reach Record Figure of €3.2bn in 2017

26 December 2017 – Idealista

The year-end forecasts for hotel investment are marking record highs, exceeding the €3.2 billion threshold. This represents an increase of 45% with respect to 2016 and of 25% with respect to 2015, the record year to date when investment amounted to €2.55 billion. The large operations completed during the year include the 14 assets (HI Partners) that Sabadell sold to Blackstone for €630 million and the purchase of the iconic Edificio España building (pictured below) in Madrid by the hotel chain Riu for €380 million.

The hotel segment has risen to prominence in 2017 in terms of real estate investment, accounting for 30% of the total market share, exceeded only by retail. During the first six months of the year, €1.655 billion was invested in hotel purchases.

Madrid and Barcelona are the two cities that recorded the majority of the real estate operations: the Spanish capital accounted for 19% of total investment and the Catalan capital 12%. Nevertheless, markets such as Valencia, Sevilla and Bilbao also started to spark interest amongst investors. Meanwhile, in terms of holiday markets, the Canary Islands, Andalucía and the Balearic Islands led the investment ranking, accounting for 23%, 13% and 9%, of the total investment, respectively.

Between January and November 2017, 94 operations were closed, with 109 hotels changing hands. The most significant operation was completed by Blackstone, with its purchase of the HI Partners portfolio from Sabadell (…).

Another important deal was closed in June with the sale of a portfolio of 3- and 4-star Meliá Hotels, located in Ibiza, Lanzarote, the Balearic Islands and Torremolinos to London & Regional for €230 million.

In 2018, the investment figures in the hotel sector could soar once again if Barceló’s plan goes ahead to take over the NH Hotel Group, worth €2.48 billion. That deal would create a new market leader with more than 600 hotels and 109,000 rooms.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Testa Buys 135 Homes From CaixaBank

26 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Testa Residencial has acquired a package of 135 homes located in the Community of Madrid from Buildingcenter (which forms part of Caixabank). The package contains 67 homes located in the municipality of Las Rozas, 51 in Getafe and 17 in Madrid capital, all areas where demand for rental housing is booming, according to the company.

“The operation has been completed after Testa Residencial emerged victorious from the competitive process established by Buildingcenter and managed by Servihabitat”, said the company in a statement. The acquisition has been financed with available cash from the company.

In this way, and following the recent operation to integrate a package of homes from Acciona Real Estate, Testa Residencial has now expanded its portfolio of assets to include 9,219 homes, whereby strengthening its position of leadership in the residential rental market.

According to the company, its portfolio of homes currently has an occupancy rate of more than 90% and is located in areas with the highest demand, led by the Community of Madrid, San Sebastián and Cataluña, which account for 65%, 5% and 5% of turnover, respectively.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Homes Buys A Land Portfolio In Málaga For €68M

5 September 2017 – Press Release

Yesterday, Neinor closed a portfolio transaction comprising 6 of the most sought-after plots in Málaga; planning permission has already been granted for all of them. The plots are suitable for the development of more than 800 units and are expected to generate a projected gross margin of 27%, well above the Company’s target. The sites are located in Colinas del Limonar, a high-end residential area focused mainly on Spanish buyers and in Hacienda Cabello, a residential area close to the University of Málaga.

With this deal, Neinor’s total acquisitions since January now amount to €226 million, and as such it has already fulfilled 100% of its target for 2017 and 14% of its target for 2018, reflecting the Company’s commitment to harnessing the momentum in the market.

This transaction is the first to be funded using the JP Morgan bridge loan announced last week

Neinor Homes is the market leader in the residential segment in Málaga, where it owns more than 29 sites suitable for the development of more than 2,300 dwellings.

The Company has also just announced the launch of a new Eastern Andalusia Region team, which will be managed from the new Malaga office, led by Ignacio Peinado who is joining the Company.

Original story: Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Property Developers Accelerate Their Land Purchases

31 August 2017 – Expansión

Spain’s large real estate companies have launched ambitious investments plans with the aim of starting to build thousands of homes over the next few years, whereby benefitting from the upwards cycle that the housing market is currently enjoying.

The most active players include some of the new property developers led by investment funds such as Neinor Homes, Vía Célere and Aelca. These companies, the first of which is listed on the stock market and the latter two which have plans to make their stock market debuts within the next few months, have accelerated their land purchase plans in recent months, backed financially by their owner-shareholders and loans from the banks.

Such is the case of Neinor Homes. The property developer owned by Lone Star has invested €157.5 million so far in 2017 on the acquisition of various plots of land spread across locations such as Valencia, Málaga and Madrid. These purchases will allow it to build 1,750 homes, in addition to the around 4,000 units that it already has underway.

In the case of Vía Célere, acquired in February by Värde and five other funds, its land purchases so far in 2017 amount to €100 million, which has allowed it to increase its portfolio of land by 212,016 m2 to 2.7 million m2.

Another one of the companies that has invested a lot in land in recent months in Aelca. The company led by Värde and its founding partners, Javier Gómez and José Juan Martín, has spent €170 million so far in 2017 to increase its buildable portfolio by 362,000 m2. Following these purchases, it plans to build around 3,900 homes.

New leader

But the leader of this growth is Metrovacesa. The property developer led by Jorge Pérez de Leza has started a new phase this year, following the transfer of its rental assets to Merlin, with the ultimate aim of recovering its leading position in the sector, this time, focusing on the residential market. To this end, its main shareholders, Banco Santander and BBVA, have transferred it land worth €1,108 million, covering a buildable surface area of 3.1 million m2.

Metrovacesa’s plans for these plots, which have capacity for 24,000 homes, include the sale of some of the asset to competitors, which are eager to expand their portfolios. Currently, the property developer owned by Santander and BBVA is the second largest landowner in the country, with land spanning 6 million m2, exceeded only by Sareb.

Meanwhile, the ACR group (which has invested in some projects together with Allegra, the investment arm of Mario Losantos, the former owner of Riofisa) has purchased land worth €43 million, with a buildable surface area of 88,000 m2, where it plans to build 810 homes. (…).

Amenabar has a similar investment policy. The Basque real estate company, the current leader house building ranking in Spain, with more than 4,000 units underway, has acquired land covering more than 352,000 m2 this year, which will allow it to build another 2,976 homes. (…).

Another of the classic property developers, Quabit, has undertaken 13 operations involving buildable land in just two months, allowing it to incorporate almost 120,000 m2 into its portfolio. (…) The listed company will build 1,097 homes with a forecast revenue of €196 million.

Meanwhile, the Inbisa group has invested more than €80 million in the residential market over the last 18 months and plans to spend another €30 million before the end of the year.

Another fund that has made a significant commitment to the housing market in Spain in ASG. That firm, which also invests in commercial properties, has spent €200 million this year on the acquisition of 16 urban plots of land.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Competes With Hispania To Become Largest Hotel Socimi

26 July 2016 – Expansión

Merlin, which has incorporated several hotels into its portfolio following its purchase of Testa, now owns 24 properties worth €654 million. Merlin is the largest real estate company and Socimi in Spain.

The merger between Merlin and Metrovacesa will create the largest real estate company and Socimi in Spain, market leader in the office segment and with a leading position in the shopping centre sector. In addition, the new Merlin will be one of the largest hotel lease operators in Spain, which will allow it to catch up with Hispania, the Socimi in which the investor George Soros holds a stake.

Following the integration with Metrovacesa, Merlin will go from owning 12 hotels worth €398 million to having 24 hotels with a gross asset value (GAV) of €654 million. In this way, the new Merlin will increase the value of its assets by 1.6 times following the integration, which is expected to be closed during Q4 2016, after the competition authorities and the general shareholders’ meetings of both companies have approved the deal.

By number of rooms, the union of Merlin and Metrovacesa will give rise to a hotel lease giant, with almost 4,500 rooms and a gross yield of 5.8%. The operation will also allow the group to increase the appeal and liquidity of its hotel division. The hotel business will account for around 7% of the new Merlin, which will have an total asset portfolio worth €9,300 million.

The company’s integrated portfolio of assets will include hotels as iconic as the Eurostars de las Cuatro Torres, inherited from Testa and the Barceló Torre, inherited from Metrovacesa, both located in Madrid.

Ranking

For the time being, Hispania leads Spain’s ranking of the owners of hotels operated and managed by third parties, both in terms of the number of rooms and asset value. At the end of the first quarter, Hispania’s hotel portfolio included 8,234 hotel rooms in total, across 27 hotels, as well as two shopping centres and a plot of land, with a gross value of €862 million. In addition, in March, Hispania acquired the mortgage debt of Dunas Hotels & Resorts from several financial institutions, whereby acquiring 1,183 rooms in four hotels. The group, which owns the Hotel Guadalmina Spa & Golf (Marbella) and the Holiday Inn Bernabéu (Madrid) also bought the Hotel Oasis Resort (Lanzarote) last week. Following that operation, Hispania now owns 35 hotels and more than 10,400 rooms. Merlin’s hotel lease contracts all involve fixed rents, whereas Hispania operates using all types of lease contracts. Some include variable components linked to the evolution of the business. Currently, that is the most common type of lease contract in the hotel sector.

Exit

Nevertheless, Merlin has described its hotel division as “non strategic”, “which means that, in the medium term, it will be looking for a way out of this arm of its business”.

Sources in the sector believe that, if it chooses to exit the hotel business in a single transaction, then we will see a record-breaking operation in the hotel market. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Owns c.5% Of Spain’s Logistics Assets

28 June 2016 – Expansión

Blackstone created Logicor in 2012 and since then, has grown the company by acquiring portfolios of logistics assets, to reach its current surface area coverage of 13 million sqm.

In Spain, Logicor has been purchasing assets for three years and now owns properties covering a total surface area of 1.1 million sqm, primarily in Madrid and Barcelona, making it the largest owner of logistics land in the country, with a market share of between 5% and 7%. It is followed in the ranking by Merlin Properties and Prologis, in an otherwise very fragmented sector.

Logicor’s Director General for Southern Europe, Manel Vericat, said that the company is still looking for logistics warehouses in Madrid and Barcelona, as well as in other cities, such as Valencia and Pamplona: “We are searching for products that have may potential thanks to the management of our team; and we are able to participate in operations that have higher risk because we have experience in this segment and are capable of managing these situations.

The Spanish subsidiary is led by Alejando Rumayor, who previously worked for Aguirre Newman, Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, ING Reim and CBRE, where he worked last before joining Logicor. The team in Barcelona is led by Xavier Novell, who joined the firm from Aguirre Newman, where he led the logistics and industrial department for the last decade.

In recent years, Logicor has made some major investments in Spain, such as the purchase of a portfolio of logistics assets from CBRE Global Investments, which covered a surface area of 78,000 sqm.

It also acquired a batch of logistics warehouses covering 106,000 sqm, from the French insurance company Axa.

Similarly, it purchased a batch of logistics assets from Gran Europa with a combined surface area of 319,000 sqm. And another one from SEP investments, measuring 138,000 sqm. Finally, one of its most important acquisitions at the global level involved a batch of warehouses from General Electric, of which around 348,000 sqm were located in Spain.

Rents

Vericat confirmed that, since last year, rents in the logistics sector have recovered in Barcelona. In Madrid, “we have not detected any increases yet, but certain rent incentives have disappeared, such as grace periods.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cinven Buys Tinsa From Advent International

7 April 2016 – El Mundo

The European private equity house Cinven has signed an agreement to purchase the appraisal company Tinsa from Advent International, which acquired the firm in 2010 for €100 million. The consideration to be paid this time around has not been disclosed. The appraisal company was put up for sale at the beginning of 2016 and since then experts have speculated that the company could be sold for up to €350 million.

Tinsa, created in 1985 and headquartered in Madrid, is the largest property valuation and real estate advisory services company in Spain and Latin America, and performs mortgage appraisals on all kinds of properties, including tertiary and residential assets.

Currently the appraisal company operates in more than 25 countries around the world, with a strong presence in Latin America and dedicated offices in Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Perú, México and Colombia.

Cinven highlights Tinsa’s in-house technology, which is at the forefront of the market and allows it to offer accurate and efficient valuation solutions to its clients, as well as complementary services, such as energy audits and the monitoring of property developments.

Tinsa has 580 employees and a network of around 2,000 appraisal experts. The company performs more than 300,000 appraisals per year around the world and has more than 100,000 clients, including more than 90% of Spain’s banks.

Cinven also highlights that Tinsa is integrated into the process of its main clients, the banks, and that it plays a key role in the risk assessment process for granting new mortgages. In addition, Cinven indicates that the current onerous regulatory context requires properties to be appraised before any new mortgages can be granted, and imposes periodic valuations of banks’ real estate portfolios. (…).

Moreover, Cinven will inherit Tinsa’s strong management team, led by its Chairman, Ignacio Martos, formerly the CEO of Opodo, the portal that used to be owed by Amadeus, and by its Finance Director, Juan Guerra. (…).

Tinsa represents Cinven’s sixteenth investment through its Fondo 5. Advisors to this operation have included Rothschild y Socios Financieros (financial advisors), Clifford Chance (Cinven’s legal advisor), Uría Menéndez (Advent’s legal advisor), Oliver Wyman (Advent’s commercial advisor), McKinsey (Cinven’s commercial advisor), KPMG (accountant), Deloitte (tax) and Garrigues (employment law).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake