Kennedy Wilson Sells 10 Carrefour Supermarkets to Barings for €73.4M

14 January 2020 – El Confidencial

The US fund Kennedy Wilson has sold 10 supermarkets that are currently leased to the French retailer Carrefour to the British fund Barings for €73.4 million.

The stores are located in Madrid (2), Barcelona (4), Bilbao (1), Salamanca (1), Cádiz (1) and Almería (1), and together span a surface area of 38,800 m2 with 1,100 parking spaces. All of them are situated in central locations with good public transport links.

Kennedy Wilson will reportedly generate almost €30 million from the sale, which it plans to reinvest in new opportunities in Europe as well as in other projects already underway.

Original story: El Confidencial (by EC)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Trajano Iberia Receives Offers of €60M+ For its Manoteras Business Park

2o June 2019 – El Confidencial

The Socimi Trajano Iberia has received several offers amounting to more than €60 million for the Isla de Manoteras Business Park in Madrid that it purchased three years ago for €44.3 million.

The asset, located on Avenida de Manoteras 48, in the Manoteras, Las Tablas and Sanchinarro office district of the Spanish capital, has a leasable surface area of 13,442 m2 and 274 parking spaces.

The Socimi created in 2015, which is managed and promoted by Deutsche Bank and in which the Alcaraz brothers hold a 10.55% stake, is hoping to close the operation at the beginning of July.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

La Generalitat Resumes the Auction of Various Rental Homes in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat

12 June 2019 – El Confidencial

La Generalitat de Cataluña is resuming the public auction of a rental home portfolio for which it hopes to obtain proceeds €6.2 million, having applied a discount of 20% to the asking price last year (€7.7 million).

The assets in the portfolio are all located in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) on Calle Ciencies 15-23, next to Plaza Europa and the Gran Vía 2 shopping centre. They comprise 16 homes, 2 commercial premises, 23 parking spaces with storerooms plus 3 terraced single-family homes located in the urbanisation behind that building on Calles Mileva Maric 33 and 49 and Hanna Arendt, 3. In total, the assets have a combined surface area of 2,448 m2 and are leased almost in their entirety, with just one home and the commercial premises vacant.

The assets are owned by Fira 2000, in which the Catalan government holds a 50%, alongside the Town Halls of Barcelona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

The deadline for bids is 22 July and the online auction will be held on 29 July through Addmeet.  

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

ING Sells its HQ in Las Rozas (Madrid) to Barings

13 June 2019 – Eje Prime

ING has sold its office building located on Calle Severo Ochoa, 2 in Las Rozas (Madrid) to the US fund Baring Alternative Investments for an undisclosed sum.

The property spans a surface area of 12,700 m2, has 350 parking spaces and is located on the Las Rozas business park with direct access to the A6 and M50 motorways, and close to a suburban train station.

The building currently houses the Dutch bank’s headquarters in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Finalises the Purchase of Torre Tarragona from UBS

5 June 2019 – Cinco Días

The US fund Blackstone is negotiating the purchase of Torre Tarragona in Barcelona from UBS, according to several sources in the sector. The deal looks set to become the third major operation in the city’s office market this year after Naturgy sold its headquarters to Colonial and Telefónica sold its Diagonal 00 property to Emperador.

UBS Global Asset Management acquired Torre Tarragona in 2015 for €72 million from Omega Capital, the family office owed by Alicia Koplowitz. Now, having invested €10 million in a comprehensive renovation, the Swiss bank is hoping to sell the property for between €100 million and €110 million.

Torre Tarragona is located close to the Sants train station in the Catalan capital and spans a surface area of 18,150m2 spread over 19 floors. It has 250 parking spaces and its main tenant is Pepsico, together with other companies, such as the technological firm Acens (a subsidiary of Telefónica), Quercus and the laboratory Gentic.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés to Sell its Centres in Xanadú and Francesc Macià

22 April 2019 – Eje Prime

El Corte Inglés is continuing to divest its real estate. The department store group has put its shops in Xanadú (Madrid) and Francesc Macià (Barcelona) up for sale.

They will be joined by others in San Juan de Aznalfarache (Sevilla), Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Ademuz (Valencia), Navarra, Independencia (Zaragoza), Málaga, Marineda City (A Coruña) and Siete Palmas (Gran Canaria).

In total, the group’s portfolio for sale comprises 14 properties, 16 plots of land and 65 assets of various types, including flats and parking spaces, spanning a combined surface area of 1.2 million m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Project Green: More Details about El Corte Inglés’s Property Divestment Plan

2 April 2019 – El Confidencial

More details have been revealed about the real estate portfolio that El Corte Inglés put up for sale last week. According to information presented in the blind teaser prepared by PwC, the portfolio known as Project Green includes 95 non-strategic assets and spans a constructed surface area of 998,000 m2 with another 228,000 m2 in available land.

The portfolio is split into three completely separate blocks. The first comprises 11 shopping centres. The second comprises three office buildings and 65 other assets, including 5 more shopping centres, located across six provinces. The third contains 16 plots of land, with the aforementioned combined surface area of 228,000 m2.

According to the teaser, 50% of the shopping centres, offices, parking lots and premises contained in the portfolio are concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Sevilla.

Moreover, the department store giant has expressed its willingness to remain as the tenant in 11 of the 16 shopping centres for between three and five years, although that period is regarded as too short by experts given the incompatibility of the properties with other uses (they have no windows, and so, are unsuitable for use as hotels or hospitals).

ECI has also said it would be willing to continue in two of the office buildings. Another block is leased to a third party for a gross annual income of €1.6 million and there are eight other premises whose rental amounts to €1.8 million.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Árima to Increase its Capital by €50M to Repay Debt & Purchase Assets

2 April 2019 – Expansión

The Socimi Árima, led by Luis Alfonso López de Herrera-Oria (pictured below), is going to carry out a capital increase of up to €50 million (expandable upon demand), which will be used to early repay a €30 million loan signed with CaixaBank, as well as to purchase new assets.

The company hopes to incorporate new investors through this operation, which will see its share capital increase by 50%, whereby providing more liquidity for its equity.

The capital increase will comprise the issue and launch into circulation of 5 million new ordinary shares with a nominal value of €10 each, which will be issued without an issue premium. It will be carried out through an accelerated placement aimed at qualifying and institutional investors.

The company’s asset portfolio amounts to €121 million, spans a gross leasable area of 29,000 m2 and includes more than 460 parking spaces in the office sector in Madrid.

Original story: Expansión 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Allianz RE Negotiates the Purchase of Castellana 200 for c. €250M

2 April 2019 – El Economista

The office and retail complex Castellana 200 in Madrid is on the verge of changing hands once again. Its owner, the pension fund of the Canadian armed forces, PSP, is negotiating its sale with Allianz Real Estate in a deal that could amount to €250 million.

The property is listed on the MAB through the Socimi Silvercode, which made its debut on the stock market in 2016. The company’s majority shareholder is Java International, (97.51%), which is in turn owned by PSP Britannia (87.76%) and Enavap Investments (9.75%). The latter is controlled by Luis Iglesias, founder of Drago Capital, which is the current manager of the complex.

Castellana 200 was last sold in July 2014 for €144 million, after opening its doors in April 2013. It is located on Paseo de la Castellana, just 300 m from Plaza de Castilla, and comprises two office buildings, spanning more than 20,000 m2, plus a shopping centre measuring 6,416 m2 and 817 parking spaces. There are also plans for a hotel in the pipeline with a surface area of 18,000 m2.

Through this deal, Allianz Real Estate, the strategic real estate division of the Allianz Group, would strengthen its position in Spain, a market it first entered in 2016.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Arcano Buys EFE’s Former HQ in Chamberí to Build Luxury Homes

1 April 2019 – El Confidencial

Arcano has just acquired the property at number 32 Calle Espronceda in Madrid, which previously housed the EFE Agency for several decades.

The firm’s new real estate fund has just purchased the building, which spans 8,000 m2, for more than €40 million from the fund Eurostone, where it plans to promote 50 luxury homes. The property is distributed over seven floors and has more than 200 parking spaces. Moreover, it has already been granted all of the licences necessary for the redevelopment work.

The operation has been advised by Colliers, Doble Dígito and TC Gabinete Inmobiliario and partially financed by CaixaBank.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake