Tag: offers

Offers for Gescobro Fall Short of Cerberus’s Asking Price

13 May 2019 – La Información

Cerberus Capital Management cannot find a buyer for Gescobro. The US investment fund put the debt recovery specialist on the market at the beginning of the year, but so far the offers submitted have fallen well below its expectations in terms of price.

Hoist Finance, the Spanish subsidiary of a Swedish bank, and Cabot, a British fund dedicated to the purchase of non-performing loans (NPLs), have expressed the greatest interest in Gescobro, but their offers, amounting to around €200 million each, fall well short of Cerberus’s initial expectations of between €300 million and €350 million.

Sources in the market are questioning the value that Cerberus is assigning to Gescobro, given the current market prices and its operating profit (its EBITDA amounted to €11.3 million in 2018). Nevertheless, the US fund is defending its price thanks to the high number of problem loan portfolios that the company has acquired in recent years, whose gross value amounts to more than €8.6 billion.

Specifically, Gescobro is currently managing 12 unsecured loan portfolios with a combined nominal value of €8.3 million and 2 secured loan portfolios with a nominal value of €300 million. The prices of such portfolios typically reach less than 5% and around 30%, respectively. The debt recovery firm also employs 410 workers and has agreements to manage €3.5 billion in NPLs for the main Spanish banks.

Original story: La Información (by Pepe Bravo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

GreenOak Puts Las Mercedes Business Park on the Market 3 Years After Buying it

16 April 2019 – El Confidencial

GreenOak has engaged the real estate consultancy firm CBRE to coordinate the sale of Las Mercedes Business Park, one of the main office complexes in Madrid.

The aim of the fund, led in Spain by Javier Zarrabeitia, is to receive offers for the asset between May and June, with a view to closing the sale before the summer. The US fund has set an asking price of more than €200 million, which would represent a capital gain of 40% in just 3 years after it purchased the property for €140 million in 2016 from Standard Life.

Since acquiring the asset, GreenOak has worked on repositioning it, increasing its occupancy rate from 65% to 90% and negotiating rent increases.

The complex comprises nine office buildings, spanning a surface area of 80,000 m2 and is located in the northeast of Madrid, alongside the A-2 motorway. It is home to the offices of companies such as Altran, Applus, the Spanish Medicines Agency, Enaire and Carrefour.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

A 17,000 m2 Residential Plot Goes Up For Sale in Central Santander

12 February 2019 – Eje Prime

An operation is on the horizon in the heart of Santander. A plot of land spanning 17,000 m2, with planning permission to build homes up to three storeys high, has gone up for auction with a starting price of €1.3 million. The land is owned by a local family, which inherited several plots.

The objective of the sale is to divide the “proindiviso”, given that the land is currently owned by six members of the family and a third party. Nevertheless, an agreement between the owners allows the abbreviated procedure to apply to the auction, in other words, there is no need to set up a compensation board.

The plot, spanning 16,921 m2 and with a buildable surface area of 4,700 m2, is located in the urban centre of Santander, in a growth area next to the El Alisal shopping centre. The urbanisation has almost been finished and there are facilities and transport connections in the vicinity.

Following its publication on the auction website of the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (BOE), interested parties have a period of twenty days to submit offers, after which a period will open for the owners to present the option to improve the bid to third parties.

The land has planning permission to build three-storey blocks with garages and storerooms, as well as a communal area with a garden and swimming pool. The land is valued at €2.15 million, according to an independent expert. That is the de facto starting price, although a discount of 60% has been established thereon. Hence, the minimum price of €1.29 million.

The same family owns another plot very nearby, spanning 9,157 m2, with a buildable surface area of 3,394 m2, which is not adjacent but which is located in the same urbanisation, according to explanations provided by sources speaking to Eje Prime.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I.P.G.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Solvia: Sabadell Puts its Real Estate Subsidiary Up For Sale

17 October 2018 – El País

Sabadell is going to listen to offers from several real estate vulture funds that are interested in acquiring its subsidiary Solvia, the manager of its properties. The entity, which declined to comment, has now entrusted the sales process to an investment bank. In the summer, Jaime Guardiola, CEO of Sabadell, justified holding onto Solvia due to “the great contribution it makes to the bank”, but now he is taking a step towards selling it. Sources in the sector indicate that Sabadell wants to strengthen itself and take advantage of the good climate still being enjoyed in the real estate market.

The banks are getting rid of properties before the booming market deflates. They are selling not only portfolios, but also the companies that specialise in the management of those real estate assets, known in the sector as servicers. Until now, it was typical for the banks to include their servicers in the package of asset sales: that is what CaixaBank did with Servihabitat and BBVA with Anida.

But, Sabadell wanted to get more mileage out of its subsidiary and so decided not to sell Solvia when it divested around €12.2 billion of its properties to Axactor, Cerberus, Deutsche Bank and Carval. Nevertheless, Sabadell has now taken the definitive step and is open to offers from the interested vulture funds. According to sources in the market, the interested parties include Cerberus and Oaktree.

148,000 assets under management

Based on data as at May 2018, Solvia is one of the leaders in the real estate services market in Spain, with a portfolio of 148,000 units in assets under management, whose value exceeds €31 billion, according to the entity. In a report from Goldman Sachs, Sabadell indicates that Solvia’s annual profit amounts to €40 million.

The company has extensive experience in the marketing of new build developments, given that it has placed more than 10,000 homes in new developments on the market since 2015. At the moment, Solvia has 55 developments up for sale. In terms of rental, as of October, the firm was managing 32,000 assets, of which 74% belong to Sabadell. Solvia also works with other clients, including Sareb.

The report from Goldman Sachs noted that Sabadell could sell Solvia as a way of raising its capital ratios, with little detriment to its income statement.

Market sources agree with these arguments to explain the step taken by Sabadell. On the one hand, as the European Central Bank has indicated, entities must accelerate the sale of all businesses relating to the real estate sector. The banks are aware that times of lower economic growth will come and understand the importance of taking advantage of the appetite that the large international funds still have for Spanish property.

On the other hand, the sale of Solvia will also result in cost savings, a reduction in the workforce and, above all, lower capital consumption. In the last quarter, between March and June, Sabadell’s capital ratio decreased by one point, from 12% to 11% for its CET 1 fully loaded capital ratio (the highest quality indicator). The limit on the basis of which the ECB applies severe measures is 10.5%.

This decrease was due to the problems that Sabadell has been facing with its British subsidiary TSB, which was left without a service for weeks. Between March and June, the bank lost €138 million in provisions against real estate portfolios and the problems at TSB.

Original story: El País (by Íñigo de Barrón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

A Swap from ING & CaixaBank: the Last Stumbling Block in the Sale of Santander’s HQ to AGC

27 July 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The sale of the company that owns Santander’s Ciudad Financiera is closer than ever to becoming a reality. The approval of the liquidation plan by a Madrilenian court set September as the deadline for offers. Nevertheless, there are still disputes to be resolved.

The main stumbling block now is a lawsuit in London against a swap (financial derivative) granted by five entities: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), CaixaBank, ING, HSH Nordbank and AG Bayerische Landesbank. The lawsuit, filed years ago, is based on a claim that RBS manipulated the interbank – LIBOR and Euribor – market. The lawsuit amounts to €800 million, given that the swap has cost around €90 million per year since 2008, according to financial sources consulted by this newspaper.

The discussion in Spain focuses on the fact that some of the creditors of Santander’s headquarters fear that the new owner of the company (Marme Inversiones 2007) will decide to shelve that lawsuit. It would require an agreement between the new Marme and the five banks party to the swap in exchange for renegotiating the derivative, which expires in 2023.

AGC’s offer

Those €800 million, if the process in London proves successful, could mean that all of the creditors recover their money. In particular, the original shareholder, the Brit Glen Maud, and the company Edgeworth Capital, owned by the Iranian investor Robert Tchenguiz, who took positions during the bankruptcy.

Other sources consulted indicate that there is a commitment from the main interested party in the Ciudad Financiera, the Arab fund AGC Equity Partners, to keep the Marme litigation case open.

Currently, the only offer on the table is the one presented by AGC in 2016 for between €2.5 billion and €2.8 billion, depending on the variables that are included. A year earlier, Aabar Investments, the owner of Cepsa, and Edgeworth, also submitted bids. But they were not accepted.

As we wait to see what will happen over the next two months, AGC leads the rest of the candidates to acquire Santander’s headquarters.

One of the possible counter-offers could come from Edgeworth, which negotiated a €2 billion loan with JPMorgan to participate in the liquidation plan. It also proposed that the company exit from bankruptcy without the need to be liquidated.

This operation would generate a sale with significant gains for the funds that entered the process by buying Marme’s debt from financial institutions. They include Blackstone, Canyon and Monarch.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Renta & Arcano Bid for Bankia’s Former Branch on c/Alcalá (Madrid)

5 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The number of parties interested in one of Bankia’s star commercial assets in Madrid is being whittled down little by little. As Eje Prime revealed, last month, the entity opened an auction for its branch located at number 1 Calle Alcalá. After a period receiving offers, Arcano and Renta have been chosen to participate in the final round. Within the coming days, a decision will be taken as to who will end up acquiring the asset, according to sources close to the auction, who indicate that Arcano is currently best positioned in the race.

According to the same sources, a third group reached the final round but then withdrew due to the value that the asset may reach in the last round of offers. Arcano is one of the best-positioned players given the type of property up for sale; in recent months, it has acquired a handful of other assets with similar characteristics, such as the store at number 202 Calle Bravo Murillo that it purchased from Redevco for €12 million.

The highest offers submitted to Bankia for this latest asset amount to around €18 million, with those presented by Arcano and Renta Corporación proving most attractive to the banking institution (amounting to €18.3 million and €18.2 million, respectively, according to sources close to the operation). The asset, which is likely to interest restaurant operators rather than fashion firms given its (limited window) façade, comprises two floors: the first spans 458 m2, whilst the basement measures 405 m2.

In the event that Renta Corporación’s bid proves successful, something that is unlikely according to market sources, it could be the first move in a larger deal to acquire the whole building. Renta Corporación does not specialise in commercial assets but is an expert in the acquisition of entire buildings for their subsequent renovation. Moreover, the building did go up for sale in 2014.

Indeed, following the success of the sale of several assets, such as those located at numbers 18 and 3 Gran Vía for more than €26 million, and at number 8 Plaza Chamberí for more than €40 million, the Community of Madrid decided to try its luck with this property, located on Calle Alcalá, for which it was asking €10.7 million at the time.

The asset, constructed in 1880, has a total surface area of 3,209 m2 and used to house the offices of the Community of Madrid’s Ministry of Economics and Finance. Although nowadays it is used as offices, and its compatible uses include hotel, commercial, administrative, healthcare, education and even residential. Nevertheless, the Community of Madrid pulled out in the end and did not end up selling the building.

Bankia’s other prime assets

In addition to the premises on Calle Alcalá, Bankia’s portfolio of assets contains a second branch located in a prime enclave in the Catalan capital. It is the former headquarters of Bankia in Barcelona, located at number 9 Plaza Cataluña. That property has a surface area of 1,000 m2 and has received attention from a large number of operators.

Sources are Bankia have explained to Eje Prime that whilst the aim with the branch in Madrid was to sell it, the plans for the property in the Catalan capital are not as clear. According to the entity, it is considering several options, including a sale, but it may also lease the property to an operator and even invest in generating value from the asset by undertaking a renovation (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Inditex Negotiates the Sale of 16 Stores to German Fund Deka

29 January 2018 – Eje Prime

Inditex has found a buyer for its portfolio of stores. The Galician fashion retailer is holding conversations with the German fund Deka Inmobilien to sell the sixteen stores that it put up for sale in December. Both companies are holding negotiations to close the acquisition for €400 million.

The agreement is expected to be closed this week in such a way that the group may include this divestment in its results for 2017, according to reports by El Confidencial. Almost 80% of the value of the portfolio corresponds to the establishments located in Madrid (the Zara store on c/Preciados and the Lefties shop on c/Carretas), Barcelona (the Zara store on c/Pelayo) and Lisbon (Rúa Augusta y Antonio Augusto de Aguiar). The remaining stores are located in Valencia, Córdoba, Albacete, Palma, Sevilla, San Sebastián, Ciudad Real, Zamora, and Fuengirola.

Zara’s parent company has received several offers for its stores. Some buyers were only interested in part of the portfolio and many were mainly interested in the Preciados store. The operation is being brokered by Savills-Aguirre Newman.

Meanwhile, Deka Inmobilien, the real estate investment division of Grupo Deka, is a buyer interested in acquiring assets in good locations, with high profile tenants and long-term contracts. Its operations in recent years include the acquisition of the Diagonal 640 office building in Barcelona for €145 million. Inditex guarantees a five-year rental term with the option of extending for another twenty years and rental prices that offer an average return of 4% for the whole portfolio.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Valencian Gov’t Receives 13 Offers for Land Next to Terra Mítica

7 December 2017 – Eje Prime

The Valencian Government has already managed to generate investor interest in the plots of land next to the region’s theme park, Terra Mítica, in Benidorm. The public administration has received thirteen offers for eight of the nine plots that it has put up for auction with a sales value of €26.35 million.

For those plots, which together span a combined surface area of 2.79 million m2, the ‘Sociedad Proyectos Temáticos de la Comunidad Valenciana’ (SPTCV or Company for Theme Park Projects in the Community of Valencia) has received proposals from ten companies, according to a report from the regional government itself. More offers may still be received over the next few days, through other public registers or by registered post, according to Expansión.

The transfer of land will be carried out with the right of use already granted to several companies for the next few decades. Such is the case of the Villaitana (Meliá) and Asia Garden (Barceló) hotels, as well as the land that is currently occupied by the Terra Natura theme park.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Asur’s Two Hotels Go Up for Auction for €70M

30 November 2017 – ABC

The judge of Mercantile Court number 2 in Sevilla, Pedro Márquez, has approved the liquidation plan for the company Ámbito Sur Hoteles (Asur), which includes the direct sale, by auction, of the two production units associated with the four-star hotels that the company owns in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz) and Isla Antilla (Huelva). Both are operated by the chain Ohtels. Asur, which also owns land in Manilva as well as 81 tourist apartments in La Línea, filed for liquidation after accumulating debt of €90 million, most of which corresponded to loans from Banco Popular (now Santander), Cajasur, Sabadell and Sareb (the so-called bad bank).

The Hotel Asur Campo de Gibraltar and its adjacent car park are worth €21 million, although the debt associated with that production unit amounts to €20.7 million, mostly loaned from Cajasur. Meanwhile, Hotel Asur Islantilla Suites & Spa has an asking price of €48.7 million and that is offset by loans amounting to €41.5 million, of which €38 million was initially granted by Banco Popular (now Santander). That hotel also houses a conference centre.

Although several creditor banks made a request for the mortgage debt over the hotels to be foreclosed, the judge from the Mercantile Court has ruled for them to be sold as separate production units, relegating the mortgage foreclosure to a subsequent time if the auction is abandoned (…).

The bankruptcy administrator, in the hands of the law firm Maio Martínez Escribano, will receive offers for the hotels and the two plots of land in Manilva until 16 December. If by then it has not received any offers for more than 75% of the real value of the estates, then the period for the submission of offers will be extended by one month, to 16 January.

If an offer is received for less than 75% of the real value of the hotels, the main creditors (Cajasur in the case of the hotel in Campo de Gibraltar and Santander in the case of the hotel in Islantilla) will have to approve the operation. The bankruptcy administrator will have the power to choose the most favourable offer without having to obtain legal authorisation for the sale.

In the event that the two hotels are not sold directly through this first auction, the sale will be undertaken through a specialist entity, such as a real estate consultancy firm, which will be granted a five-month period to that end. If that sales option also fails, a “dación en pago” of the properties will be carried out. Only in the event that the hotels cannot be sold in that way either will the properties be auctioned off individually and not as production units.

The history of Asur

The company Asur was created in 2010 by the Basque group Bruesa Construcción and the Nazarene real estate company Baremos Área Inversiones (…).

Original story: ABC (by M. J. Pereira)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Martinsa Puts New Batch Of Assets Up For Sale For €57M

4 January 2017 – Expansión

Martinsa Fadesa’s bankruptcy administrators have put a batch of land, homes and work in progress developments up for sale for a combined price of €56.7 million.

The assets put on the market as part of the liquidation of the real estate company are located in: Murcia, Valencia, Fuerteventura, Madrid, Toledo, Huelva, Las Palmas and Málaga, according to official data.

The largest asset, which has been put up for sale for €32 million, corresponds to the Atalaya Dorada plot of land, located in the municipality of La Oliva, just a few kilometres away from the Dunas de Corralejo Natural Park, in the north of the island of Fuerteventura.

The plot may house homes, a golf course, and buildings for hotel and tertiary use.

The current administrators of the company have also put up for a sale another plot of land in the Canary Islands, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, for €21.4 million.

The property is located in Barrio de Guanarteme, around 100m from Playa de Las Canteras and next to its future extension.

Meanwhile, the company has put a property near the Guadalhorce reservoir in Antequera (Málaga) up for sale for €2.2 million.

The property, which may be used for recreational and agricultural activity, has a surface area of approximately 334 hectares and borders the Guadalhorce Reservoir and the Torcal de Antequera.

In addition, the bankruptcy administrators of the former real estate company have put two homes in Molina De Segura (Murcia)up for sale, as well as two homes under construction in La Pobla De Vallbona (Valencia), six bungalow type townhouses in the municipality of La Oliva (Fuerteventura), and a 168m2 home and parking space in Madrid.

A terraced home in Illescas (Toledo) has also been put on the market, along with a terraced house in Ayamonte (Huelva) and three plots of land in La Pobla De Vallbona (Valencia).

Interested investors are invited to submit their offers by 20 January.

On 11 March 2011, an agreement was approved for Martinsa to pay €7,200 million of debt over a 10-year period without any discounts. Nevertheless, the company’s breaches and lack of liquidity forced it to file for liquidation in 2015.

Martinsa Fadesa’s bankruptcy administration team comprises Antonia Magdaleno, Ángel Martín Torres, as representative of KPMG Auditores –appointed by the CNMV-, and Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, as representative of the creditor Bankinter.

The liquidation of Martinsa Fadesa may be completed in 2017 and once the creditors have been returned the “present value” of the assets that they financed, according to sources close to the process.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake