Inditex to Build a Logistics Centre Next to Mercadona’s in Parc Sagunt

14 December 2018 – Valencia Plaza

The company behind the offer received by the Valencia Port Authority (APV) to purchase a plot of land measuring 280,000 m2 in Parc Sagunt is Tempe. That firm, a subsidiary of the textile group Inditex that has its headquarters in Elche, is planning to build one of its centres on the plot that is located right next to the 350,000 m2 plot on which Mercadona has already started work to build its largest logistics block in Spain.

The APV announced this week that it had received, through its subsidiary Valencia Plataforma Intermodal (VPI), a purchase proposal for that plot, although it did not reveal the amount of the bid or the identity of the candidate. The Board of Directors of VPI considered the bid to be “in the port’s interest” because the project presented fulfils the requirements in terms of the movement of goods through the Port of Sagunto, which VPI included in the public tender convened previously for the sale of this plot.

The company has opened a period of 30 calendar days to give other applicants the option to submit alternative offers, and so if that does not happen before 11 January, them the land will be awarded to the footwear subsidiary of the textile group founded by Amancio Ortega (…).

The 280,000 m2 plot, which VPI was awarded at the time for €30 million is currently worth €25 million, but the entity has already recognised a provision in its accounts for the adjustment in the value of the land. In the tender documents, the company established a minimum price of €30.7 million plus €300,000 for notary fees, payable in cash (…).

Tempe is the Inditex subsidiary that specialises in footwear and accessories for the eight chains that belong to the group: Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe. It is responsible for the design, sale and distribution of those products. Its headquarters are in Elche, one of the main manufacturing nuclei in Spain, and occupy 200,000 m2. From there, it distributes 100 million units around the world each year.

In 2017, Tempe broke sales records once again by registering a turnover of €1.246 billion, according to its accounts for the year. The company is owned by Inditex (50%) and the businessman Vicente García Torres. Its profit amounted to €81 million and Inditex received €21 million in dividends from the company.

Logistics is one of the fundamental areas of Inditex’s business. In total, 8,565 workers are dedicated to it, equivalent to 5% of its employees. The distribution of clothes, footwear, accessories and household goods of all of its chains is carried out from fourteen logistics centres located across Spain (…).

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by Xavi Moret)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega’s RE Business is Worth Almost €9bn

23 July 2018 – El Mundo

Amancio Ortega is continuing to expand the perimeter of his real estate empire. Pontegadea, the investment arm of the Inditex creator, grew by 2.8% at the end of 2017, to reach almost €9 billion (€8.759 billion) and that, despite the fact that its profits decreased by 13%, to €1.475 billion due to donations made to his foundation.

Pontegadea groups together both Amancio Ortega’s stake in Inditex as well as his real estate investments. According to the accounts filed with the Mercantile Registry of La Coruña, the company closed 2017 with a net profit attributed to the parent company of €1.475 billion, 13% less than a year earlier, due to donations amounting to €350 million made to the Amancio Ortega Foundation, a large proportion of which are devoted to the fight against cancer.

Specifically, the Foundation donated €320 million to the purchase of state-of-the-art cancer equipment, which is going to be installed in public hospitals across all of the autonomous regions.

At the end of last year, the assets of the Pontegadea group were worth €29.028 billion, its net equity amounted to €21.006 billion and its business volume reached €25.721 billion.

In addition to Torre Cepsa, which it purchased for €490 million and the building at Gran Vía 32, Ortega owns several other office buildings in Madrid such as Torre Picasso and the Castellana 79 building, which houses the largest Zara store in the world.

The Zara property portfolio

Meanwhile, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria recorded revenues (primarily due to rental income) of €385 million, up by 13.6% compared to a year earlier, and the fair value of its portfolio of assets, set by an appraiser, was €8.759 billion, up by 2.8% compared to a year earlier.

51% of the real estate revenues come from European markets, 46% from America and the remaining 3% from Asia, according to the annual accounts, which reflect that Pontegadea’s real estate investments amounted to €629 million in 2017 and at the end of the year, they amounted to €6.913 billion: €1.688 billion in Spain and the remaining €5.225 billion overseas.

Of the investments outside of Spain, €2.681 billion correspond to investments in America, €2.191 billion to Europe (excluding Spain) and €353 million to Asia.

Pontegadea Inversiones, the parent company of the Pontegadea group is chaired by Amancio Ortega and its first Vice-President is his wife, Flora Pérez.

In addition, the company’s directors include José Arnau, who is also a director of Inditex, and Roberto Cibeira, in turn, the CEO of Pontegadea Inmobiliaria.

The Inditex group, owner of fashion chains such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, recorded a net profit of €3.368 billion in the last financial year (which closed in January), up by 6.7% compared to a year earlier, and its sales amounted to €25.336 billion, up by 8.7%.

Original story: El Mundo 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Massimo Dutti Vacates its Store on Rambla Catalunya 60 (Barcelona)

12 July 2018 – Eje Prime

A new commercial space is available for rent in the centre of Barcelona. Massimo Dutti, one of the chains in the Inditex group, closed the doors to its establishment at number 60 Rambla Catalunya, on the corner with c/Aragón on Tuesday. The Coma-Cros family, which owns the building that is home to the store, has put the property on the market.

According to sources at the chain, the closure of the Massimo Dutti store forms part of the Galician group’s current process to reorganise its network of shops; it is focusing on getting rid of small stores in favour of larger establishments. Massimo Dutti already has another store on the corner of Gran Vía and Rambla Catalunya and another one on Paseo de Gracia, the latter in the former premises of Vinçon.

The building at number 60 Rambla Catalunya is owned by the Coma-Cros family and proceeds from a saga relating to the textile sector, whose company, based in Salt (Girona) shut down in 1999 after 149 years of operation.

According to explanations from sources in the real estate sector speaking to Eje Prime, the premises occupied by Massimo Dutto until now has been put on the market. The asset has a surface area of around 1,065 m2 and its neighbours include Tezenis and Rituals.

The Coma-Cros family channels its investment activity in the real estate sector through the company Fisa 74, which it manages through Fisa Rentals. The company owns residential assets for rent in Barcelona, on Calles Aribau, Bailén, Les Corts, Rambla Catalunya and Gran Vía.

Rambla Catalunya has become one of the most sought-after streets in Barcelona for retail operators. According to data from the consultancy firm CBRE, in 2017, the street accounted for 30% of the prime high street rental operations in Barcelona. Avenida Diagonal, meanwhile, accounted for 25%, followed by Paseo de Gracia with 22%, Portaferrissa with 13%, Pelayo with 7%, and Portal de l’Àngel with 3%.

Since 2014, around fifty operations have been closed on Rambla Catalunya, which has led to the modernisation of the offer on the street. In 2017, operators such as Etam, CKS, Lily and Pangea arrived, amongst others.

According to sources in the sector, the speed at which a new tenant for the asset is found will depend on the price set by the owners, given that price is proving to be the main stumbling block in the negotiations currently underway in Barcelona. According to CBRE, rents for stores measuring between 800 m2 and 1,500 m2 on Rambla Catalunya amount to around €30/m2/month.

Original story: Eje Prime (by P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Inditex Buys a 22,000 m2 Plot in Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona)

7 February 2018 – Eje Prime

In recent weeks, the Galician fashion retail group has formalised the operation, which it began to study a year ago. For the time being, the company has not decided what to do with the plots. 

A real estate operation on the edge of Barcelona. The Galician group Inditex, the largest fashion retailer in the world, has signed the purchase of 22,000 m2 of land in Sant Adriá del Besòs in recent weeks. The land acquired corresponds to plots that used to be occupied by Schott Ibérica.

According to explanations provided by sources close to the operation, the acquisition has been carried out by the group’s parent company, Inditex. The sale and purchase has been brokered by the real estate consultancy JLL, according to market sources.

The company chaired by Pablo Isla started to study this move a year ago. Although initially, the possibility of using this land to house the new headquarters of the Bershka chain was considered, sources close to the operation indicate that Inditex has not decided what to use the site for yet. The acquisition is looking to anticipate possible future needs.

Schott Ibérica’s plant in Sant Adrià closed its doors at the end of 2014. The company, which is dedicated to the manufacture and sale of glass tubes for pharmaceutical use, employed more than 100 people on the site at the time of its closure. The plot had attracted interest from several operators.

Inditex has a presence throughout Spain. The headquarters of Zara and Zara Home are located in Arteixo (A Coruña), along with the corporate offices; the headquarters of Pull&Bear are located in Narón (A Coruña); the offices of Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Oysho are located in Tordera; Stradivarius, in Sallent; and Tempe in Elche (Alicante). In addition to its offices, the group has an extensive logistics presence in Spain, with distribution platforms in A Coruña, Alicante, Zaragoza, León, Barcelona, Madrid and Guadalajara.

In the case of the headquarters in Cataluña, Inditex started to move some of its operations closer to the Catalan capital several years ago, with the aim of improving its ability to attract talent. In fact, Stradivarius moved its design centre to Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona) last year following the acquisition of land there, measuring 18,911 m2, from the Generalitat de Catalunya. That brand’s logistics activity, however, is still located in Sallent (…).

With a network of more than 7,500 stores in 94 countries, Inditex ended 2016 with revenues of €23.311 billion. As we wait for the company to announce its results for 2017, we see that it recorded profits of €3.157 billion in the previous year.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja & Pilar Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Victoria’s Secret & Armani To Open Stores In Plaza Río 2 Shopping Centre

16 October 2017 – Expansión

On Thursday 20 October, the luxury Italian brand Armani is going to open a new store in Madrid. However, the new establishment is not going to be located on one of the capital’s high-end streets, such as Serrano or Ortega y Gasset, but rather in a shopping centre: the new Plaza Río 2.

Located on the banks of the River Manzanares, the Plaza Río 2 shopping centre is the latest project from the French real estate giant La Société Générale Inmobilière (LSGI). With a total investment of almost €200 million, the company has managed to secure tenants for the entire retail space, which measures 38,931m2, out of a total surface area of 127,873 m2.

The new tenants include household name brands, including several belonging to the Inditex group, such as Massimo Dutti and Zara Home, as well as new faces in the shopping centre business in Spain.

Such is the case of the aforementioned Armani group, which will open an Armani Exchange store for the first time in Spain; Armani Exchange is the Italian group’s brand that targets a younger audience.

Meanwhile, the underwear firm Victoria’s Secret, famous for its annual catwalk show with supermodels, will also make its debut in a shopping centre in Madrid with a store in Plaza Río 2.

Until now, the firm, owned by the US group L Brands, has had a presence in two shopping centres in Barcelona, as well as in the airports of Málaga, El Prat and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, in the cosmetics and accessories format. Just a few days ago, it opened its first high-street store in the Spanish capital, in premises measuring 150m2 on Calle Fuencarral, which will be joined by its new establishment in Plaza Río 2 next week.

Another first in the new shopping centre will be the H&M Home line. The Swedish firm has reserved a surface area of 3,000 m2, spread over three floors, where it will open a store that will offer its H&M Home household collection for the first time in the centre of Madrid.

Plaza Río 2 is the eighth shopping centre that LGSI has opened in Spain. Through its subsidiary LSGIE, the company has promoted well-known establishments such as Madrid 2 La Vaguada, one of the first shopping centres that ever opened in Spain. In addition to this latest new opening, the group plans to renovate and expand its different assets in the Spanish market, according to sources at LSGIE.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Global Brands Colonise The Centre Of Barcelona

13 September 2017 – El País

(…). Demand from major operators, such as Zara, Uniqlo, H&M and even Seat, for flagship stores in city centres is boosting investment in these types of high-street establishments. According to a study by the real estate consultancy JLL, such investment amounted to €402 million across Spain during the first quarter of 2017

Examples of flagship stores (…) are found in the centre of Spain’s major cities. One of the most paradigmatic is Primark’s store, which occupies more than 7,000 m2 on La Gran Vía in Madrid (..). Flagship stores are essentially an image, a tourist attraction, where the entire collection of a company is presented and where consumers can also do online shopping and collect orders. It is also very typical for brands to make presentations and hold events at their stores.

In Barcelona, the H&M, Zara and Massimo Dutti stores on Paseo de Gracia, and the large store in the Born neighbourhood where the sunglasses brand Etnia took up residence this year, are examples of the presence of flagship stores in the Catalan capital. On 20 September, Uniqlo, the Japanese competitor of Inditex, will open a large store, also on Paseo de Gracia. But the interest in these types of establishments is not limited to the world of fashion. Companies such as Seat, Ikea and Leroy Merlin, and even large banking institutions, have all expressed their interest in raising their profiles on the main commercial thoroughfares.

“It is the way the brands have of positioning themselves in the market”, explains Daniel Jiménez, Director of Retail at the real estate consultancy Aguirre Newman. Jiménez says that there is a great deal of demand for these types of premises, and that the brands do not settle for any old shop: they want open-plan spaces, in good locations with attractive architectural features.

The effect on local trade

The main streets where the demand is being concentrated in Barcelona are Paseo de Gracia and Portal del Ángel, the most expensive high street in Spain, where prices amount to €3,360/m2, according to a report from Acotex. “The brands fight for premises, whilst the buyers, normally international investment funds, obtain a return of between 3.5% and 3.75% in Barcelona”, says Jiménez.

The emergence of large stores, through which the major international brands demonstrate their power, certainly has an effect on local businesses. The first and most obvious impact is the rise in rental prices. Joan Carles Calbet, President of Comertia and RetailCat, the new association of Catalan traders, celebrates the fact that increasingly more people want to invest in Barcelona. “But these types of stores distort the equilibrium of the city, because they (the large players) can afford to pay a lot more than local businesses, which leads to very high inflation”, says Calbet.

“We risk losing local businesses, which define the character of the city”, adds the President of RetailCat, an association that represents almost 30,000 local businesses (…).

Original story: El País (by Josep Catà)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurofund Capital & Patron Acquire 3 Shopping Centres

6 April 2017 – Inmodiario

The European investment funds Eurofund Capital Partners and Patron Capital have strengthened their presence and operations in Spain with the acquisition of three shopping centres: El Mirador, located in Cuenca; Los Alcores, in the town of Alcalá de Guadaira (close to Sevilla); and Alzamora, in Alcoy (Alicante).

Over the next few months, it will invest approximately €13 million in these centres to renew their retail offering, as well as to incorporate new domestic and international firms in the sector, and to increase the leisure and restaurant offer.

El Mirador de Cuenca is one of the iconic shopping centres in Castilla La Mancha and has no competitors in Cuenca. Inaugurated in 2002, it has a gross leasable area of 16,400 m2 and is home to more than 60 stores, including several high profile brands such as H&M, Cortefiel and Carrefour.

Los Alcores forms part of the Parque Guadaira retail area, next to the town of Alcalá de Guadaira. With a gross leasable area of 12,400 m2, its tenants include firms such as H&M, Lefties, Bershka and Stradivarius (…).

Meanwhile, the Alzamora shopping centre is also the main operator in the Alcoy area. It has a gross leasable area of 16,000 m2 and houses a wide range of retail (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Springfield) and leisure firms (cinemas, gym).

This is the second joint operation by Eurofund Capital Partners and Patron Capital in Spain, following their acquisition in July 2015 of the Dolce Vita Odeón shopping centre in Narón, near Ferrol, where it is carrying out a complete refurbishment both inside and outside the property, which, including the improvements made over the last two years, amount to €10 million (…).

Patron Capital and Eurofund

Patron Capital is an institutional investor specialising in real estate assets. It currently manages assets worth more than €5,000 million belonging to sovereign funds, universities, pension funds, private foundations and individual investors from the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Patron is headquartered in London and manages its investments in Spain from its offices in Barcelona. (…).

Meanwhile, the Eurofund Group has developed the shopping resort concept in Spain, which has had enormous success in Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), winning the MAPIC prize in 2013 for the best shopping and leisure centre in the world. (…).

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Catella Advises Sale Of 2 Retail Premises In Burgos & Cádiz

28 July 2016 – Press Release

The international real estate consultancy Catella has advised a Spanish investment vehicle on the sale of two retail premises, located in Burgos and Cádiz, and leased to Massimo Dutti, Lefties and Desigual.

The premises in Burgos are located on Calle Vitoria, 17, but are also accessible from Calle de la Puebla, 24-26. The asset is located on the best shopping street in the city, home to high profile tenants such as Zara and El Corte Inglés. It has a total surface area of 1,929 sqm, distributed over the ground floor, mezzanine level and basement. And it is leased to the Inditex Group for use by its commercial brands Massimo Dutti and Lefties.

The premises in Cádiz are located on Calle Columela, 23 (pictured above), the main shopping street in the city, alongside brands such as Mango, Zara and Massimo Dutti. The property has a total surface area of 225 sqm distributed over the ground and first floor. It is leased to the fashion chain Desigual, which is going to introduce its new concept soon.

According to Pablo Carvajal, Director of Capital Markets at Catella, “given the absence of products with attractive returns in the prime markets of Madrid and Barcelona, investors are now showing more interest in the best shopping streets in other cities, where they are finding high yields and first-rate tenants”.

About Catella

Catella is a listed international real estate consultancy and a leader in the Europen market. Catella adds value by combining its extensive knowledge of local markets with its own investment bank approach and its great capacity to generate investment opportunities.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Kennedy Wilson Buys ‘Moraleja Green’ From ING

2 November 2015 – Expansión

Another shopping centre is changing hands barely a year after it was last sold. Later this week, the Moraleja Green shopping centre in Madrid, will have a new owner, twelve months after being acquired by the Dutch bank ING.

The financial institution, which purchased the property through one of its real estate funds, has decided to transfer ownership of the building to the US fund Kennedy Wilson. According to sources in the sector, ING will receive between €70 million and €75 million for the Madrilenian centre, which it acquired for €68 million in November 2014. This increase reflects the on-going appreciation in real estate assets in Spain, particularly for offices and shopping centres.

Cushman & Wakefield and Dentons have advised the buyer in the operation, whilst Deloitte and DLA Piper have advised on the sell-side. The agreement between both parties is absolute and will be announced officially this week.

The shopping centre is located in the northeast of Madrid, next to the exclusive La Moraleja urbanisation. It occupies a surface area of 76,763 m2 and 29,600 m2 is used for retail space. The centre’s main tenants include the supermarket chain Sánchez Romero, Inditex – with its brands Zara, Massimo Dutti and Oysho – and H&M.

The Moraleja Green centre was inaugurated in April 1995. Its developers were the real estate companies Metrovacesa and BBV Inmobiliario. It was expanded in 2001 and receives 3.38 million visitors (per year), according to the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres.

The new owner is the US fund Kennedy Wilson. The North American firm has been one of the most active players in Spain the most in recent months. Its latest operations include the purchase of 16 retail spaces, nine supermarkets and seven shops, leased to Carrefour and Día. It paid the fund AEW Europe and a French institutional investor €85.5 million for that portfolio.

The wider market

As a result of this deal, Moraleja Green will join the list of shopping centres that have changed hands during 2015, which also includes Plenilunio, acquired by Klépierre for €375 million, and Zielo Shopping, bought by UBS for €70 million.

Another shopping centre that has changed hands twice in just over a year is Parque Ceuta. A few months ago, the Brazilian group Hemisferio bought the Ceuta-based centre from the fund HIG for €26 million. The US fund had acquired it in January 2014 for €18 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Massimo Dutti, H&M & Uniqlo Seek Premises On Passeig De Gracia

22 June 2015 – Expansión

Rental prices are soaring on Barcelona’s Golden Mile / The three fashion chains have been negotiating with the owners of premises on the street for months to open mega-stores.

Barcelona’s Passeig de Gracia is one Spain’s most important retail streets, and store rental prices there have increased significantly in recent years. The luxury boulevard of the Catalan capital was the Spanish street where prices rose the most in 2014 (by 6.4%) to €215/m2/month, according to data from the retail-specialist consulting firm Ascana.

The tourism boom in Barcelona is continuing to drive demand in this street, and it is still one of the areas where international brands “must” have a presence. And the shortage of available stores means that prices are continuing to rise. All of this, despite the fact that the retail surface area on Passeig de Gracia has increased in recent years, since the first floors of many buildings have been incorporated into the stores. “And despite the fact that large premises mean lower average rental prices”, explains Eduardo Rivero, Managing Partner at Ascana.

Negotiations

As a result, rental agreements are taking longer to finalise. That is the case of the three mega-deals that have been under negotiation for months and which have not yet been agreed. The Japanese firm Uniqlo has been trying to lease premises on Passeig de Gracia for several years and has been negotiating with the owners of number 18 for months.

Massimo Dutti’s negotiations to lease the store that Vinçon will vacate, at number 96, have also been going on for months. And the other mega-store, created by sacrificing office space at number 11, is where H&M has been trying to open its flagship store since last year.

The volume of transactions on Passeig de Gracia, both in terms of investment and rental, has slowed down in recent months. According to Rivero, the number of retail property purchases has decreased for two reasons: the fall in profitability for the purchaser and, above all, the shortage of assets for sale. (…). The same is happening in the rental market. (…).

New brands are still arriving on the street, although to a lesser extent than a few years ago. In 2014, a total of 23 transactions were signed and 15 new brands arrived, most of them fashion industry names.

New stores

The upper end of the Paseo de Gracia is the real golden mile of the city. There, twelve deals were closed last year, all of them involving luxury brands such as Dior, Versace, Rabat, Frey Wille, Carmina Shoemaker and Wolford.

The extension of the time to close operations has driven the proliferation of temporary shops, known as pop-up stores, such as those run by Brandy Melville, Levi’s and Twin-Set. According to Ascana, these temporary incursions allow companies to verify the degree of consumer interest in a brand and evaluate the success of any possible permanent facilities. And whilst they all continue to look for space, rental prices continue to rise.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake