Partners Group Negotiates the Purchase of 5 More Office Buildings from Meridia Capital

10 January 2020 – El Confidencial

The Swiss manager Partners Group is in talks with Meridia Capital, led by the Catalan businessman Javier Faus, with a view to purchasing half of the office portfolio that Meridia put up for sale at the end of last year.

The two players enjoy a close relationship following a deal closed last April, which saw Partners acquire a portfolio of 18 offices from Meridia for €215 million, and the Socimi continuing to manage the portfolio.

A similar arrangement could be sought this time around. The portfolio on the table in 2020 comprises a dozen offices in Madrid and Barcelona worth around €200 million, although Partners is only interested in half of the properties.

Both parties declined to comment on the reports of a potential sale, however, sources in the know confirmed that a due diligence process has begun on five of the assets.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

HIG Capital Acquires Two Office Buildings in Madrid from Meridia for €25 Million

1 October 2019 – The venture capital firm HIG Capital has acquired two buildings at Calle Gobelas 41-49 in La Florida, Madrid from Meridia for 25 million euros, according to market sources.

The two buildings have a combined area of ​​15,000 square meters. One of the two was renovated recently, while the other will undergo a complete remodelling.

The buildings are part of an asset portfolio that Meridia Capital acquired in 2015 from GE Capital Real Estate. Of the eleven assets in that portfolio, seven are located in Barcelona, ​​while the other four are in Madrid. Two of the latter were the properties on Calle Gobelas.

Original Story: Eje Prime – Marta Casado Pla / Marc Vidal Ordeig

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Meridia Capital Begins Trading on Euronext Access

2 September 2019

Meridia Capital, which specializes in real estate investment in Barcelona’s 22@ technological district, began trading on Euronext Access at the end of July.

Among the socimi’s assets is an ambitious project consisting of two newly constructed office buildings and two residential buildings.

Original Story: Idealista

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Meridia Sells 18 Buildings to Swiss Firm Partners Group

2 April 2019 – La Vanguardia

Meridia Capital has completed the sale of 18 buildings in Madrid and Barcelona to the Swiss firm Partners Group for €215 million. The properties are primarily office buildings, with a total leasable area of 91,000 m2, and account for the bulk of the assets that used to form part of the fund Meridia 2.

The most notable properties include Torre Meridian, and the Med I and Med II buildings in Barcelona, along with one building on Santa Leonor and another on Calle Alcalá in Madrid. The investment manager chaired by Javier Faus will continue to manage the properties.

The purchase represents the Partners Group’s debut in Spain and is the largest real estate operation to be closed in the country so far this year. Meridia began its divestment from Meridia 2 last year, with the sale of the building that houses the headquarters of Nestlé in Esplugues de Llobregat to the Korean group ICIS Asset Management for €87 million.

Meridia Capital Partners is an independent investment manager, with more than €1 billion in assets under management. Meanwhile, Partners Group is a Swiss private equity firm that manages assets worth €80 billion. The firm is also the largest shareholder of the jewellers Tous.

Original story: La Vanguardia (by Rosa Salvador)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Meridia Capital Acquires 25,000 m2 of Buildable Land in Barcelona’s 22@ District for €25.8M

17 December 2018 – Press Release

Meridia Capital has announced today the acquisition of several plots of land with a total buildable area of 24,605 m2 in Barcelona´s 22@ district from Dospuntos Asset Management.

This prime complex, comprising five adjacent plots, is delimited by Pere IV and Fluvià streets, situated in the northern part of Barcelona’s 22@ district, one of the areas with the highest potential within the city. The land acquired is adjacent to “La Escocesa”, a former industrial complex now owned by Barcelona City Council, which will be refurbished to host social housing and public services. The Barcelona City Council is focusing on developing the area by remodelling and upgrading the nearby streets with different initiatives. One of them is Ca l’Alier, a former factory that will soon start operating as an urban innovation centre and that will host the recently launched Urban Mobility Lab.

Meridia Capital intends to carry out a transformation plan in order to develop the land for tertiary use and fully integrate it within the local community. The project will become one of the major developments undertaken so far within the 22@ northern district. After this transaction, Meridia Capital owns a total buildable area of over 60,000 sqm in 22@ the district, consolidating its position as a leading investor in the growth of one of the fastest expanding areas in Barcelona.

With this acquisition, Meridia III – launched in 2016 – almost reaches full deployment. Its predecessor, Meridia II, is fully deployed and is currently in exit mode (…).

About Meridia Capital

Meridia Capital Partners SGEIC, S.A. is an independent investment firm. Over the past few years, it has become one of the main regulated alternative investment fund managers in Spain.

Original story: Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Meridia III Buys a Logistics Platform in Madrid for €15M+

5 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Meridia III has added another asset to its logistics portfolio. Meridia Capital’s Socimi has acquired an industrial platform in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) for €15.25 million, according to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

The warehouse has a surface area of 26,400 m2 and is located on the Corredor de Henares axis, the place that accounts for the largest volume of logistics stock in the whole of Spain.

The Socimi, which debuted on the stock market at the end of 2017, has financed the operation using a €10.3 million loan with a term of seven years, according to a statement filed by the company with the stock market regulator. Moreover, with this acquisition, the logistics portfolio of Meridia III now spans almost 100,000 m2.

In recent months, the company has also been undertaking some significant investments in the Spanish office market, such as its purchase in March of a building in the financial district of Madrid for €26.5 million. That property, which has a surface area of 7,500 m2, is located at number 4 Calle Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, close to Paseo de la Castellana. Moreover, in Barcelona, the Catalan manager leased its new building in the 22@ district to the international consultancy firm Everis.

On the other hand, according to the company’s latest accounts, Meridia III recorded a loss of €522,124 to June, which means that said indicator had decreased by 76% with respect to the first half of 2017. In addition, the company recorded revenues of €8 million during the first six months of the year, whereby doubling its turnover in comparison with the same period a year earlier.

Moreover, the company completed a €14.2 million capital increase at the end of November. The company’s new shares are going to be issued for a nominal value of €13 million plus an issue premium of €1.2 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barings Finalises Purchase of 4 Office Buildings from GreenOak

2 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Barings is on the verge of acquiring 100% of Avalon. The British fund manager is finalising the purchase from GreenOak of the four office buildings that it owns in the Madrilenian business park. If the operation goes ahead, the British company will become the owner of the nine properties that make up the complex.

Avalon Business Park is an enclosed business park, with a total surface area of 47,000 m2 and 1,000 parking spaces, located in the Julián Camarillo area of Madrid. Barings has been present in the complex since the end of the summer when it purchased five office buildings, with a combined surface area of 25,785 m2, from Meridia Capital for €73 million.

Now, the fund manager wants to advance with its growth plan in Spain by acquiring the four remaining properties, owned by GreenOak, which have a combined surface area of 21,170 m2. The US fund has owned the assets since 2015 when it purchased them from Banco Santander for €40 million. Almost four years later, the price of the properties amounts to around €60 million, according to reports from Expansión.

Barings arrived in the Spanish market three years ago and has already undertaken several investments in other real estate segments. In November 2017, the company purchased a logistics centre in Plaza (Zaragoza) from Deka, which it added to another logistics asset that it acquired in Madrid in April last year for €35 million.

The fund manager also has a portfolio of retail assets, which includes the Berceo shopping centre in Logroño (La Rioja). The British group acquired that complex, which has a gross leasable area (GLA) of more than 34,000 m2 at the beginning of 2018, after reaching an agreement with CBRE Global Investors, the former owner.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Meridia III Doubled its Revenues and Cut its Losses by 76% in H1

24 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Meridia III is reducing its losses. The Socimi owned by Meridia Capital recorded losses of €522,124 to June, which represented a reduction of 76% with respect to the first half of 2017, according to reports from the company to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

The company recorded revenues of €8 million during the first six months of the year, doubling its turnover in comparison with the same period last year. The firm’s EBITDA amounted to €3.3 million, reversing the negative figure of €964,673 recorded between January and June 2017.

In recent months, Meridia III has continued with its growth plans and has completed two high-profile divestments. The first was the sale to Barings of five office buildings that it owned in Avalon, as revealed by Eje Prime. That deal was followed by another at the start of October when it sold the property that houses Nestlé’s headquarters in Barcelona to Igis for €87 million.

Listed on the MAB since the end of 2017, Meridia Capital’s Socimi has also made some significant investments in the Spanish office market such as the purchase in March of a building in the financial district of Madrid for €26.5 million. The building, measuring 7,500 m2, is located at number 4 Calle Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, close to Paseo de la Castellana. Moreover, in Barcelona, the Catalan manager has leased its new building in the 22@ district to the international consultancy firm Everis.

At the beginning of October, Meridia Capital completed a capital increase of €13 million in Meridia III. The increase in funds will give the Socimi “greater guarantees to face and develop future projects and investments”, according to explanations provided by the manager in a document published on its website.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Meridia Capital Sell’s Nestle’s HQ in Barcelona for €87M

6 October 2018 – Real Estate Press

Savills Investment Management, the international real estate investment manager, has brokered the sale of Nestle’s headquarters in Barcelona by the manager Meridia Capital. The buyer in the operation is the Korean manager IGIS Asset Management. The value of the transaction has not been revealed, but sources close to the operation claim that it amounts to €87 million.

The complex, which includes 5 office buildings with a total surface area of almost 50,000 m2 and a GLA of 27,607 m2, is located in Esplugues de Llobregat, close to Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona. It is a prime location, where other large multinational companies also have their offices including Bayer, Cobega and Codorniu. The complex, which has been home to Nestle’s headquarters in Spain since the 1970s, has almost 600 parking spaces. Building 1 has a LEED 1 Platinum certificate and Building 2 and the common areas have a LEED Gold certificate.

Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Director General of Savills Investment Management for Spain and Portugal, said: “Our client has managed to access a complex with unique characteristics. At Savills IM, we are delighted to have been able to accompany them in this operation, which will undoubtedly mark a milestone in the real estate market during the second half of this year”.

In reference to Savills IM’s objectives in Spain, Ramírez de Haro added, “after closing this investment, which follows others recently completed in Spain and Portugal, we are close to recording total acquisitions of €500 million in 2018”.

Ashurst, Cushman & Wakefield, KPMG and Colliers advised the purchaser whilst the law firm Uría Menéndez and Valliance Real Estate Advisors acted as advisors to the vendor.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barings Acquires Five Office Buildings in Avalon Business Park in Madrid

    

Barings Real Estate has acquired five office buildings within Avalon Business Park, Madrid, Spain, as part of a Pan European value add investment strategy on behalf of an institutional investor. The seller is Meridia Capital. The five office buildings comprise 24,495sqm and are best in class in this submarket. The buildings are 97% occupied with more than 20 tenants mainly from the IT/technology and engineering sectors. Additionally, there are 1,291sqm of retail space and 421 underground parking spaces.

The Avalon Business Park comprises in total nine office buildings with 46,952sqm. The business park is located in Julian Camarillo, a 950,000sqm, consolidated office sub-market within the city of Madrid, one of the largest submarkets in terms of take-up in 2018. Formerly an industrial area, Avalon Business Park has already undergone big changes in the past years. It is in very close proximity to the city centre and the airport (15 minutes by car to each). The metro station is within eight minutes walking distance, and the property is served by several bus lines.

“We are delighted to announce our seventh acquisition in Spain and our first investment in the Madrid office market, where we see significant rental and value growth over the coming years. This is a new milestone in the development of our investment strategy in the Iberian Peninsula after a significant capital deployment in both the retail and the logistic markets. As our local team grows, we continue broadening our investment horizon, not only across different asset classes but also in terms of risk profile, from core product to value-add and opportunistic transactions,” Adolfo Favieres, Country Head Real Estate, Spain at Barings, said.

Barings was advised by Dentons (Legal), Deloitte (Financial), Arcadis (Technical) and Knight Frank (Valuation). Meridia Capital was advised by Garrigues and Savills Aguirre Newman.