Tag: non-monetary capital increase

Silicius with 8 New Capital Increases Worth €320 Million Since February

31 July 2019

The Mazabi Group’s socimi, Silicius, announced it has carried out eight capital increases through the incorporation of real estate valued at more than 320 million euros since February.

The non-monetary real estate contributions include Calle Carretas, 10, in Madrid, the Siemens Gamesa headquarters in Bilbao, the Hotel on San Onofre Street, 5, in Madrid and a hotel in Mallorca, among others.

The capital increases have also led to the entry of dozens of new shareholders, from Spain as well as Latin America and the rest of Europe.

Original Story: La Vanuguardia / EFE

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Silicius Adds Bahía Plaza Shopping Centre to Portfolio in Non-Monetary Capital Increase

28 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

The socimi Silicius, managed by Mazabi, has finalised a third capital increase of more than 20 million euros through the addition of the Bahía Plaza Shopping Center (Los Barrios, Cádiz) to its asset portfolio of assets. The shopping centres previous owners joined Silicius as new shareholders.

The centre, which has a gross leasable area of 19,190 m2, has an occupancy rate of 98%. Its current tenants include Burger King, Foster’s Hollywood , La Tagliatella, 100 Montaditos and Odeon.

Original Story: Idealista

Castellana Properties Incorporates Unibail’s Shopping Centres into its Portfolio

28 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Castellana Properties is now the ninth largest Socimi in Spain. The company, which is controlled by the South African fund Vukile, has doubled the value of its portfolio to €900 million by incorporating the firm Morzal Property into the fold. Morzal is the vehicle through which Vukile purchased four shopping centres from the giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in July.

The General Shareholders’ Meeting of Castellana approved the purchase of 100% of Morzal at the same price as the initial operation was closed, according to Eje Prime. The incorporation of the company, which paid Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield €490 million in July for its four assets, has been carried out through a capital increase subscribed by a non-monetary contribution of Morzal’s share capital, attributing a value of €6 per share to the shares of Castellana Properties.

Following this incorporation, the Socimi has increased its portfolio with the following shopping centres: Los Arcos (Sevilla), Bahía Sur (Cádiz), El Faro (Badajoz) and Vallsur (Valladolid). In total, the manager is adding a gross leasable area (GLA) of 121,300 m2 to reach a total of 318,622 m2 distributed all over Spain.

The market capitalisation of the company now amounts to €460 million, whilst the average value of its assets has increased from €27 million to €48 million, and its vacant space has decreased from 3.3% to 1.8%.

“The acquisition of these four shopping centres significantly strengthens our portfolio and reaffirms our commitment to the retail real estate sector in Spain”, said Alfonso Brunet, CEO of Castellana Properties.

Similarly, in terms of the future, Vukile has the commitment to inject another €200 million into Castellana over the coming years, as revealed by Eje Prime. In April, the fund subscribed an agreement with the Socimi to undertake capital increases for that maximum value in the event that it does not find the necessary partners to continue buying retail parks and shopping centres with, “given the need for financing to undertake such investments”.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

S&P Increases Colonial’s Credit Rating to BBB+

18 October 2018 – Expansión

Standard & Poor’s has increased the rating assigned to Colonial from BBB to BBB+ within the investment grade category.

The credit agency has ruled out possible revisions of that rating by assigning a stable outlook for the company.

Colonial managed to increase its rating after reaching an agreement with Qatar, whereby the sovereign fund of that country became the company’s largest shareholder by acquiring 20% of its share capital through an exchange of shares.

By virtue of that operation, the Spanish Socimi consolidated its controlling position in its French subsidiary Société Foncière Lyonnaise (SFL), given that Qatar granted it the 22% stake that it owned in that company, allowing it to increase its share of the capital to 80%, in exchange for shares in the Spanish real estate company proceeding from a non-monetary capital increase.

S&P also reviewed Colonial’s rating upward after the Socimi completed the merger of another Socimi Axiare and closed the sale of a portfolio of offices owned by that company which did not fit with its business strategy.

Original story: Expansión 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Acquires Land from Sankar in Exchange for 4.55% of its Own Shares

3 August 2018 – El Español

Félix Abánades, President and largest shareholder of the listed real estate company Quabit, is continuing to immerse himself in a quagmire of capital increases that he has been promoting in order to raise funds to use to purchase land, on which to build almost 8,000 homes between now and 2022. His ambitious objective is to invoice almost €2 billion, generate a cash flow of almost €500 million and distribute €90 million in dividends.

Land in exchange for shares

Basically, these increases have been of a non-monetary nature, with the purchase of land in exchange for shares in Quabit. A much cheaper route than the two lines of credit amounting to €100 million that the firm signed with the fund Avenue between December 2016 and December 2017.

Those loans carry a clear risk, given that the principal, on which interest of between 12% and 16% is charged, must be repaid within a maximum term of 4 years following the drawdown date.

Repayment commitment

In light of the probability that the principal will not be returned on time, Avenue forced Quabit to issue warrants, an abusive right over the shares in favour of the fund that, in the worst case, would see it take ownership of 8.56% of the property developer.

For the time being, with Quabit trading at €1.77, at the close of business on Thursday, that option would be ruled out, given that the subscription prices agreed with Avenue for the execution of those rights over the shares range between €3.07 and €3.75.

Six capital increases in one fell swoop

It is for that reason that, in light of this negative outlook, Abánades carried out six capital increases in one fell swoop last November, for a combined total of €41.8 million, with the issue of shares at a price of €2, with a nominal value of €0.50 and a premium of €1.50.

All of those increases were of a non-monetary nature, in which Abánades captured estates from the Basque property developer Ondabide in Mijas (Málaga) and plots in Guadalajara contributed by Rayet, Abánades’s own company. The other four capital increases were placed by the President of Quabit with the Malaga-based property developer, Sankar Real Estate.

Agreement with Sankar

Quabit’s agreement with Sankar, for the subscription of those four increases, was aimed at obtaining plots in the Malagan municipalities of Mijas, Marbella and Estepona and in the Menorcan town of Mercadal, some in the form of proindivisos for 30% of the surface area.

The total operation will allow Sankar to acquire 4.55% of Quabit’s share capital, once the four increases have been fully subscribed. A package of 6.78 million shares, valued initially at an issue price of €13.56 million.

For the time being, Sankar has subscribed to two of these increases. With the public deed of the capital increase of the latter, relating to estates on the island of Menorca, the Malaga-based property developer has been obliged to report to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) its stake as a reference shareholder of Quabit, given that it now owns 3% of the shares. Specifically, its stake amounts to 3.31%.

Losses of 12%

A package of 4.93 million shares that have accumulated losses of 12% compared with the €2 price for which they were issued, taking as a reference Quabit’s COB trading price on Thursday, €1.77.

The consequence of these non-monetary increases is affecting the personal stake of Félix Abánades, the President of Quabit, who has seen his position in the company decrease from 24% just a few months ago to the current level of 21.4%. He is trying to maintain the rate with the acquisition of financial instruments that, in the future, may yield another 1% of share capital.

Original story: El Español (by Juan Carlos Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Nyesa Signs Non-Monetary Capital Increase of €17M with Brickstock

12 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Nyesa is continuing to win shareholders and develop its portfolio following its return to the stock market. The real estate firm has signed a contract with the Socimi Brickstock and its reference shareholders to undertake a non-monetary capital increase amounting to more than €17 million, as reported by the company to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The agreement provides for the contribution of all of the shares of the Spanish companies Desarrollos Comerciales Plainet and Liber Iudiciorum. The first of the companies owns an asset portfolio comprising 2,453 m2 of retail premises and terraces in Fuerteventura, a retail premise in Barcelona, buildable land in Madrid for the construction of four homes and a buildable plot in Toledo for the construction of 52 homes. Meanwhile, Liber Iudiciorum owns two stores in the Gorbeia Multicines (Vitoria-Gasteiz) and Parque Rivas (Madrid) shopping centres, with a gross leasable area of 6,971 m2 and 4,797 m2, respectively.

For the time being, the capital increase operation is conditional upon Nyesa giving the green light to the technical, legal, tax, labour, financial and urban planning reviews of the two companies and to the shareholders of the companies accepting the valuation assigned to their shares.

The company is planning an issue rate of €0.06 per share for its capital increase, of which €0.015 corresponds to the nominal value and €0.045 to the issue premium.

Following this operation, Brickstock would hold a percentage of less than 13% of Nyesa’s share capital. Moreover, the Socimi has signed an agreement to not sell all of its shares in Nyesa for at least six months and to not sell half of its shares for at least one year.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Nyesa’s Share Price Soars by 23% as it Announces Negotiations with Spanish Investor

9 March 2018 – Eje Prime

The stock market is rewarding Nyesa. The company has seen its share price soar by 23% due to negotiations with a Spanish investor. The company has informed Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) that it is negotiating an investment contract to not only carry out a non-monetary capital increase but also to incorporate new real estate assets into its portfolio in Spain.

“The investment contract establishes that the capital increase is conditional upon Nyesa considering that the technical, legal, tax, labour, financial and urban planning reviews of the assets to be contributed are undertaken in a completely satisfactory way”, say sources at the group. “Moreover, the deal will also be subject to the investor accepting the new valuation of the assets to be contributed, based on a preliminary valuation of more than €17 million”, they conclude.

The forecast issue rate for the capital increase is €0.060 per share (of which €0.015 corresponds to the nominal value and €0.045 to the issue premium). In this regard, it was also reported that as a consequence of the execution of the capital increase, the investor would reach a percentage stake of less than 13% in the share capital of Nyesa Valores Corporación.

The operation forms part of the process to search for partners, investors and real estate projects that help to define and support the strategy and strengthen the development of the company’s business. Specifically, with the execution of this capital increase, the company’s equity position would be strengthened through the incorporation of assets that generate recurrent income.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Seeks to Integrate its Residential Business into a Listed Property Developer

22 February 2018 – Cinco Días

Sareb has started on a road that it has not yet explored in its short life. The so-called bad bank is evaluating the possibility of entering the residential property development business with a bang, as it plans to team up with a partner in the sector, in exchange for providing land to a joint venture company. That is according to several sources familiar with the process that has reportedly just started.

According to the sources, Sareb has started a process to divest land and developments in progress for around €800 million, which would result in the largest transaction in the history of the entity.

But on this occasion, the managers of Sareb are seeking to use a new formula, which would involve it contributing land to the share capital of a large property developer, be it one that is already listed or one that is considering its market debut. In return, it would enter the residential property development business and benefit from the high profit margin generated by the house construction business.

The operation is in its initial phases and several sources explain that the size of the land portfolio that Sareb wants to put up for sale may still vary, as may the formula for entering the share capital of the real estate company that ends up winning the tender. Sources at the entity declined to comment.

In any case, Sareb would enter the share capital of the property developer with the final aim of the joint venture making its debut on the stock market, which would allow the bad bank to easily divest its stake in the market in the future, in the same way, for example, that Santander and BBVA have done in the case of Metrovacesa’s return to the stock market.

The intention of the entity is to enter as a minority shareholder, ceding the management, of one of the large real estate companies that are currently starring in the new upward cycle in terms of residential development.

This would be a very similar operation to the one carried out by Santander and BBVA with Metrovacesa. In recent years, the banks have been increasing the property developer’s portfolio by contributing land from their balance sheets in exchange for stakes in the company’s share capital. For example, in July last year, the two banks injected land worth €1.1 billion into Metrovacesa through a non-monetary capital increase.

According to the sources, entering the share capital of a property developer would allow Sareb to benefit from the upward cycle in the housing sector since that business generates high profit margins on the construction of homes, much greater than those generated on the simple sale of land portfolios.

The idea could be summarised by the integration of all of Sareb’s residential and land development business by a property developer, to gain a long-term partner.

Only a limited number of candidates have been invited to participate in the process to become Sareb’s strategic ally, around six potential partners, according to the sources.

The perimeter of the assets, worth around €800 million, would make the operation the largest undertaken by the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above). Until now, the largest direct sale was the so-called Eloise portfolio, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs, for €553 million. Initially, Sareb even considered a larger contribution of land, worth up to €1.2 billion, but the experts consider that such a volume would be too difficult for any partner to digest.

In fact, the candidates to integrate Sareb’s assets are very limited because of the volume of the operation. All sights are set on the large listed companies in the sector, such as Neinor, Aedas and Metrovacesa, as well as on the other property developers that are backed by international funds, which are not currently trading on the stock market. In the case of the latter, the formula whereby that company ends up on the market would have to be analysed to facilitate the liquidity that would allow Sareb to divest over the medium term. In that case, the list is much more extensive: Aelca (Värde), Vía Célere (Värde), Gestilar (Morgan Stanley), Q21 Real Estate (Baupost), Inmoglacier (Cerberus), Habitat (Bain Capital) and ASG Iberia (Activum).

In terms of the timings fixed by the entity, the sources indicate that the operation will be closed before the summer, although they acknowledge the difficulty of the process to complete the finishing touches of the negotiations to find a strategic partner.

According to sources in the sector, the timings may also be determined by Sareb’s intention to pre-empt other major land operations that are expected to take place over the next few months.

Such is the case of Blackstone, which acquired 51% of Popular’s property portfolio, assets worth around €10 billion. Cerberus is also expected to be active in the market, through Haya Real Estate and Anida – after acquiring 80% of BBVA’s portfolio worth €5 billion – and, finally, Bain Capital, with Liberbank’s property.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit’s President, Félix Abánades, Increases his Stake in the Property Developer to 28.6%

15 December 2017 – Valencia Plaza

The President of Quabit, Félix Abánades (pictured below), has increased his stake in the real estate company to 28.6% from the 21% that he had held until now, as the largest shareholder, following the materialisation of a land swap for shares. In this way, Abánades holds an almost 30% stake in Quabit, the threshold above which the law would oblige him to launch a takeover bid for 100% of the company.

The President of the firm has already expressed his intention to sell his shares on the market to move away from that legal limit. “Nevertheless, I will sell a few shares as possible, given that I trust in the company’s capacity to push up its share price”, said Abánades recently, talking to Europa Press. In any case, he will retain at least a 20% stake in the company.

The President of Quabit, through his construction company Rayet, is one of six investors with which the real estate company recently closed land purchases in exchange for shares. The operations materialised through a series of non-monetary capital increases, which amounted to €47.7 million in total, and which were approved in November by an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting.

The largest of these operations was precisely the one closed with the construction company owned by Abánades, which transferred developable residential land located in the Corredor de Henares to Quabit for €30.14 million. The plots span a surface area of 131,000 m2 and have capacity for the construction of 1,053 homes. Specifically, in exchange for transferring these plots, Abánades received 15.77 million new shares in Quabit, taking his stake in the company to 26.65 million shares, equivalent to 28.639% of the share capital, according to the registers of Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

Moreover, all of these operation form part of the active land purchase investment policy that the real estate company has carried out this year and which has caused it to almost double the objectives set out in its strategic plan. In this way, Quabit plans to develop 7,880 new homes between now and 2022, compared to the 4,100 forecast initially.

Abánades is currently the only significant shareholder of Quabit, together with Sareb, which holds a 5.52% stake that it foreclosed from an investor. Nevertheless, the company said that with the aforementioned land exchange operations, other minority interest shareholders now own stakes in its share capital.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Finaccess Increases its Stake in Colonial to 18.23%

2 December 2017 – Expansión

The Mexican group Finaccess has reaffirmed its commitment to Colonial by investing another €154 million in the real estate company, which sees its total stake increase to €630 million based on the current market value. Following this acquisition, the group chaired by Carlos Fernández has increased its stake in the real estate company from 13.76% to 18.23% and has whereby retained its position as the company’s largest shareholder.

The operation forms part of the accelerated capital increase that Colonial carried out last week to raise financing for its takeover of Axiare.

Finaccess first acquired a stake in Colonial in the summer of 2016 through an operation that saw it exchange buildings for shares in the company. Since then, the Mexican firm has increased its stake in the real estate company on several occasions.

In addition to the Mexican company, the other two main shareholders of Colonial have also announced their commitment to support the group’s capital increase, up to a total of €250 million, which is why, following the purchase of Finaccess, there will be only €100 million left to raise. After Finaccess, the next largest stakes are held by the Qatar sovereign fund, which currently holds a 10.6% stake, and the Santo Domingo group, with a 7.3% stake. The Puig family, with a 5%, has declined to comment.

On Tuesday, Colonial closed a free capital increase that, together with the placement of its treasury shares, allowed it to raise €416.23 million. The operation followed the issue of €800 million in bonds placed last week. The two operations will contribute a total of €1.216 billion, compared with the €1.033 billion required. Colonial saw its share price close at €8 on Friday, after rising by 0.79% during trading.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake