Tag: patrizia

Triuva Wants to Spend €100M in Spain Following Its Integration into Patrizia

3 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The German fund Triuva is looking for opportunities in Spain. The company, which has just completed its integration into another German real estate company, Patrizia, is going to allocate around €100 million to the acquisition of new assets in the Spanish market. The group is currently finalising the renovation of a building on Calle Serrano, 90 in Madrid, and has already leased the 6,300 m2 of retail and office space to Maisons du Monde and Natixis, respectively.

The fund is still hungry for new assets in Spain, and so it is considering the acquisition of office buildings, commercial assets and even hotels. Currently, the Spanish arm of Triuva is fully integrated into the Spanish business of Patrizia, which has its offices on the Madrilenian street Calle Génova.

Patrizia purchased the entire Triuva business in November last year, whereby creating a real estate giant of more than €30 billion. Triuva manages some forty funds around the world and has teamed up with more than eighty institutional investors in recent years.

Triuva has around 270 assets under management, worth €9.7 billion. In Spain, the fund owns three properties in prime locations. The first, acquired during the first quarter of 2015 for €70 million, is located on Calle Preciados, 4, and is leased to the fashion chain Sfera, itself owned by the Madrid-based department store group El Corte Inglés.

Last year, the fund acquired the Adidas flagship store located on Gran Vía, 21, also in Madrid, which had been owned until then by Iberfin Capital, which is in turn, owned by Medcap Real Estate. The consideration paid for that operation was not disclosed (…).

Serrano 90, its latest project 

The Serrano 90 building, also owned by Triuva, is located in the heart of Madrid’s golden mile. 70% of its total available space is allocated to offices and the remaining 30% to commercial use; the property also has a parking lot on its lower floors. According to sources in the sector, the fund has spent around €10 million on the renovation of the asset.

At the beginning of this year, Triuva closed the rental of 6,300 m2 of retail and office space. The retail premises have been leased to the French firm Maisons du Monde, which is going to open its first flagship high street store in Madrid, to accompany the store it already has in central Barcelona.

The household furniture and accessories firm is going to lease 1,860 m2 of space in the building spread over three floors (…). Similarly, the property is going to house the headquarters of Natixis, a French corporate and investment bank, whose offices are currently located in Recoletos. Triuva and the banking institution have signed a rental agreement for 2,940 m2 of office space, as well as the terrace and 34 parking spaces in the Serrano 90 building.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patrizia Wants to Buy a Property Developer to Become Rental Giant in Spain

8 February 2018 – El Economista

Over the last six months, the German real estate fund manager Patrizia has closed three acquisitions that have turned it into the new property giant in Europe, with assets under management worth around €40 billion.

With a solid structure, the firm is pushing ahead with its plans to grow in Spain through the purchase of a property developer. “A few months ago, we were analysing two operations. We are still looking and would love to close something this year, because we have the funds and the desire”, explained Borja Goday (pictured above), Head of Patrizia Immobilien in Spain, who added that what he is looking for is “a company that is well-balanced in terms of the team and its bank of land”.

“Much of the development that we would be looking to carry out would be focused on homes for rent”, highlighted the director, who added that Patrizia’s objective is to become one of the major players in the rental market in the country.

In fact, the fund manager already has extensive experience in the residential market in some of Europe’s main countries, where it manages the rental of more than 50,000 homes.

In Spain, this business is still emerging, and there are just three large companies operating. “We want to introduce the institutional model that already works so well in other European markets, such as in Germany, and we are backing this segment because we think that the business in Spain will have an institutional base in 10 or 20 years”, explains Goday, who firmly believes that the 23% of the population that currently chooses to rent a home in Spain will grow significantly over the coming years.

Whilst it continues the search for a property developer, the fund manager will take its first steps into the residential rental market in Madrid, where it is finalising the acquisition of a property. “We are also negotiating the purchase of another building, which needs renovating, like we did with our project on Calle Claudio Coello 108, where there is just one home left for sale”, revealed Goday.

Investment strategy

The growth plans of the fund manager, which is finalising the process to integrate Rockspring, Triuva and the Danish firm SPI, are not based solely on the residential market.

“Our portfolio is very diversified, both geographically as well as by asset type, given that we have a presence in the hotel, office, high street retail and logistics segments”, said the director.

Following its recent acquisitions, Patrizia has established a portfolio worth around €1 billion in Spain and is positioning itself as an overseas real estate manager with one of the largest teams in the country, comprising 14 professionals.

“One of the major factors that differentiates Patrizia from other fund managers is that it does not invest in a country unless it has a local team with experience there”, stressed Goday.

“With these three operations, we have doubled our portfolio at the European level and we will now start to look more actively at the shopping centre segment, where we can add value”.

Moreover, the German firm, which works with investors from all over the world, wants to raise Spanish capital. “We are a wonderful partner for institutional investors and family offices who want to get involved in the real estate sector, since we give them the opportunity to also invest in Europe and to do so alongside a listed firm like Patrizia”.

Although the fund manager has doubled its volume of assets, it is committed to maintaining the same profile as always. “We are very comfortable closing operations of between €15 million and €100 million, because we think that that range is very well adapted to the reality of the current supply in the Spanish market”.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vía Célere, Aedas, Neinor & Aelca are Open to Corporate Operations

22 January 2018 – Expansión

Spain’s large property developers are warning that the shortage of land and the slow pace at which licences are being processed will lead to a rise in house prices.

Following the start of the concentration of the large Socimis, with the takeover of Axiare by Colonial as the main exponent, the real estate sector is looking to other companies in the sector to star in the new corporate operations, namely, property developers led by investment funds.

With a land portfolio spanning almost 5 million m2 and more than 10,000 homes under construction, Neinor Homes, Aedas, Vía Célere and Aelca are the leading property developers to have emerged from this current real estate cycle. With the first two listed on the stock market and the second two with plans to that end, their directors say that the commitment from large investment funds and the creation of new property developers is positive, despite the competition. “Competition motivates and helps us. It improves processes, which leads to a better purchase experience for the end customer”, explains Javier Gómez (pictured above, top right (on the left)), CEO and founding partner at Aelca, speaking at the New Housing Industry conference, organised by Expansión and its supplement magazine ‘Su Vivienda’ (Your Home), both part of the El Mundo group.

Operations

Although companies and funds, such as Harbert, Patrizia and ASG, have their own growth plans in the residential market, the shortage of available land for all of them implies that they will have to form alliances between them. “We are in a privileged position. We hold land on our balance sheet for the development of our business plan over the next five years. Having said that, we are obliged to analyse operations that add value for our shareholders, including corporate operations”, said Sergio Gálvez, Director of Business Development at Aedas.

In this context of corporate operations, Vía Célere, which is preparing to debut on the stock market in 2018, and Aelca, have something in common, which, nevertheless, also pushes them apart: their largest shareholder is the US fund manager Värde Partners. “There has been a lot of talk about whether Aelca and Vía Célere could work together, but the structure of and funds and the assets they own are different and that could lead to conflict. We would need to resolve that first”, said Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado (pictured above, top left), founder and CEO of Vía Célere.

“We think that Spain is a market that is going to be consolidated, where there is space for between five and ten large players and where size is a significant advantage”, reveals Juan Velayos (pictured above, bottom left), who, nevertheless, recognises that it is difficult in his case, since his firm does not have a single controlling shareholder, following the gradual departure of its founder, Lone Star, from the company’s share capital over the last few months.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz and Jesús de las Casas)

Translation: Carmel Drake

International Funds Reactivate RE Sector By Building Thousands Of Homes

2 October 2017 – Expansión

After years of drought, the residential real estate market is starting to show signs of recovery, with a significant increase both in investment in land as well as in the construction of new developments. In this new phase, international investment funds have become a major player, with more than €1,000 million invested in the Spanish residential sector and thousands of homes under construction. “Interest from these types of funds in the residential property development market is the result of the recovery that the segment is experiencing, as a consequence of a clear improvement in the underlying macroeconomic indicators”, says Borja Ortega, Director of Capital Markets at JLL.

For its investments in Spain, large international funds such as Värde, Castlelake, Lone Star and Morgan Stanley have opted for alliances with local operators (…). “This formula (…) is very beneficial for the market as it combines access to capital and international sources of financing with knowledge and experience of the local real estate development sector”, says Ortega.

“In most cases, the international fund provides the bulk of the capital, whilst the local partner participates in each project with a smaller percentage investment, but bringing to the table its expertise in terms of the acquisition of land and the construction of developments”, highlights Samuel Población, National Director of Residential and Land at CBRE España.

Lone Star stands out amongst the major investors. The fund, led in Spain by Juan Pepa, has invested more than €1,000 million in launching Neinor Homes, the first property developer to debut on the stock market in almost a decade. Another key player, Castlelake, is willing to spend a similar figure on the creation of another real estate giant, in this case, Aedas, which will also make its debut on the stock market soon.

Alongside them, Värde, which channels its investments in the residential sector through two companies: Vía Célere and Aelca. These three funds lead the national ranking, with 11,189 homes under construction and almost 5 million m2 of land.

Property developments

The giants Lone Star, Morgan Stanley, Castlelake and Värde are not the only players to be investing in housing in Spain. The German fund ASG is another one of the most active investors. Through its Spanish subsidiary, ASG Iberia, it is currently working on the construction of 2,000 homes, across six sites, including in San Juan (Alicante), Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) and Málaga (…).

Other active players include Stoneweg; Harbert Management Corporation (HMC), which has teamed up with the Spanish management company Momentum; the German institutional fund Patrizia; and Pimco, which joined forces with the Socimi Lar España (…).

Other partnerships are purely financial. Such is the case of the agreement between Avenue Capital and Quabit, where the fund has granted two lines of credit, amounting to €100 million in total, to the property developer to buy land.

Pressure

According to CBRE, investment in residential assets exceeded €600 million between January and September. And, according to the experts, that figure is going to continue growing. “We will continue seeing interest from international funds, given that the outlook for growth in the sector is strong for the next three to four years. The funds already present will continue with their activity and it is probable that others (not yet present) will also join in, given that the investment pressure is high”, says Población.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega Offers €490M For Torre Cepsa

28 June 2016 – El Confidencial

Amancio Ortega has entered the bidding, through Pontegadea, to acquire Cepsa’s skyscraper, by placing an offer on the table worth €490 million, according to sources familiar with the operation.

The owner of Inditex is thereby setting himself up to undertake his largest operation in the country to date, in a deal that would rank well above the figure of €400 million that he paid for the iconic Torre Picasso, the building he acquired from Esther Koplowitz almost five years ago.

Then, like now, the businessman approached the operation without the need to request financing from the banks – he has a wealth that differentiates him from the other candidates and enables him to bid slightly below the other interested parties.

In addition to Pontegadea, two other funds have expressed their interest in putting €530 million on the table, according to sources. Clearly, those bids are higher than Ortega’s, but they are linked to certain financial and payment structures that are a long way from offering the guarantees that Pontegadea provides to all vendors.

The hunt

Thanks to his dividend from Inditex, the businessman receives an annual cheque amounting to €1,100 million, which he uses, almost entirely, to acquire properties. This policy has converted Pontegadea into one of the largest real estate owners in Spain, comparable only with the newly created Merlin-Metrovacesa and Colonial.

Nevertheless, the dimensions of this remuneration mean that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the second richest man in the world to find opportunities in Spain. His interests focus on operations with at least eight zeros in the price, and as a result he has multiplied the number of operations undertaken overseas in recent years. (…)

Despite his financial prowess and the increasing challenge of finding desirable properties, Pontegadea remains faithful to its conservative policy and avoids processes that involve increasing the price in the final stretch.

In fact, its offer for Cepsa falls a long way below the €550 million asking price that the Sheik Khadem al Qubaisi hopes to obtain. The Sheik owns the purchase option over the Madrilenian skyscraper and has until September to exercise it if he wants to stop Bankia from taking over the asset once again. (…).

Nevertheless, Pontegadea is remaining firm in its valuation of the building, a figure that, if they end up closing the operation, will be significantly lower than the €558 million paid by the Philippine Group Emperador to acquire Torre Espacio. Nevertheless, according to several experts in the sector, there are important differences between the two operations, not least the higher risk of having OHL as a tenant rather than Cepsa.

The 248 metre tall skyscraper, designed by Norman Foster, has a leasable surface area of 56,000 sqm, spread over 34 floors. The sale has sparked interest from large institutional investors, such as Invesco, AEW, Deka, Hines, Patrizia, Etoile Properties and Axa.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostone Buys EFE’s Former HQ To Convert Into Luxury Homes

30 March 2016 – El Confidencial

Eurostone, a real estate company headquartered in Luxembourg, has purchased the building located on the Madrilenian street Calle Espronceda, 32-34 from BBVA, which until 2013 housed the headquarters of the new agency EFE, which occupied the property for 35 years. The consideration paid for the operation has not been disclosed, but BBVA acquired it in March 2007 from SEPI (la Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales) for €51.25 million. The consultancy firm CBRE has advised the vendor, whilst Gabinete Inmobiliario and J. Pueche have advised the buyer.

The property, located just 300 m from Paseo de la Castellana, has a surface area covering more than 8,000 m2 spread across seven floors and more than 200 parking spaces. Eurostone already owns one property in Madrid following its purchase of a building on Génova 7 and three buildings in Barcelona, all in good locations.

The fund plans to convert the building on Espronceda into a luxury residential project in a neighbourhood, namely Chamberí, that has a shortage of new, high quality homes, and so it is hoping to become one of the iconic developments in the capital. The project, which will involve collaboration with the architect studio Lamela, will comprise homes and duplex apartments containing up to four bedrooms, terraces, gardens, a swimming pool, gym, etc. In addition, it will have more than 230 parking spaces and 1,700 m2 of retail space.

The building forms part of Project Zafiro, whose sale is being managed exclusively by CBRE. The portfolio of assets owned by BBVA comprises 15 buildings of different types, located in major Spanish cities, as well as in Lisbon, with a total surface area of more than 100,000 m2 and 1,300 parking spaces. This process has sparked interest from several funds, both domestic and international, and is close to being finalised. (…).

In addition, the building in question is located just 100 m from the former block of tenement flats (arranged around a patio, typical in Madrid, known as a “corrala”) that Pontegadea, the investment arm of Amancio Ortega, sold less than a year ago to the Catalan property developer Uniq, which specialises in the development of luxury homes, and which will be responsible for leading the development of the project.

According to sources at the time, Uniq will construct the homes, but another company, an investment fund whose identity has not been revealed, put up the capital to close the deal. The price of that operation amounted to around €20 million.

In addition, less than a kilometre away, on Calle Claudio Coello, number 108, another international fund, in this case the German fund Patrizia, recently entered the neighbourhood of Salamanca, with the acquisition of a residential building from Grupo Lar and Pimco for €22 million, where it plans to construct 14 luxury homes measuring 300 m2, with two or three parking spaces per flat.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Inv’t In Commercial Assets Doubles To €920M In 2015

11 December 2015 – Expansión

From €32 million to €920 million in just five years. Those are the figures from the market for investment in commercial premises in Spain. According to the consultancy firm JLL, so far this year, investors and family offices, for the most part, have invested €920 million purchasing commercial premises, almost double the figure recorded in 2014, when they spent €452 million on these types of assets and 29 times the figure recorded in 2010, when investment in this segment amounted to just €32 million.

The almost €1,000 million invested this year has involved the purchase of around 400 properties, including the acquisition of the commercial building Gran Vía 32, which now houses the Irish textile group, Primark’s, largest store in Spain. For this building, Pontegadea, the investment arm of Amancio Ortega, paid €400 million. Another key purchase featured Sfera’s premises on Calle Preciados, 4 (Madrid), for which the fund IVG Inmobilien AG paid €70 million.

The purchase of high street premises has accounted for 23% of all real estate investment in commercial assets (including shopping centres) say the experts at JLL. “If 2014 was characterised by the recovery of the commercial investment market, then 2015 has really consolidated that trend, with total investment of €2,669 million during the first nine months of the year, up by 46% compared with the previous year. We expect that 2015 will finish with a figure of almost €3,000 million”, explain the experts at JLL in their report. By nationality, Spaniards account for 40% of commercial investments (including the purchase of shopping centres), due to the significant investments made by the Socimis.

The intense competition for the purchase of commercial premises has forced many investors to start analysing operations beyond the main shopping streets in Madrid and Barcelona, according to the experts at the consultancy firm. “Although Madrid and Barcelona continue to be the main point of entry for international firms, the low yields (which now amount to around 4%), have caused many investors to show interest in other locations, where investment returns are higher”, they explain. One example of this, is the German fund Patrizia’s first foray into Spain, which acquired a commercial establishment in Málaga leased to H&M.

Rental prices

In the case of rental prices, the market for commercial premises is also showing strong results. Portal de L’Àngel in Barcelona is still the most expensive shopping street in Spain, with an average rent of €250/m2/month, followed by Preciados in Madrid, where rents have increased by more than 6% with respect to the same quarter in 2014, to reach €245/m2/month. “Moreover, the current availability rate is very low in areas such as the Puerta del Sol and Preciados, which are now at full occupancy again”, says JLL.

Following the grand opening of Primark in 2015, we can expect to see the inauguration of Adidas, Tous and Parfois on Madrid’s Gran Vía next year, as well as Céline and Massimo Dutti on the Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona. Moreover, the Japanese fashion house Uniqlo is going to open its first store in Spain, also on the Paseo de Gracia, at number 11, in premises measuring almost 5,000 m2.

Original story: Expansión (by R. R.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Goldman Enters The Bidding For Testa’s 1,500 Homes

5 November 2015 – Expansión

Testa’s residential portfolio is attracting interest from the large international funds. In October, the Socimi Merlin Properties commissioned Deloitte and CBRE to handle the sale of Testa’s residential portfolio, after acquiring the real estate company from Sacyr in June for €1,793 million.

Merlin, whose takeover of 100% of Testa was approved on 28 October, has taken the decision to divest the residential and hotel portfolios of the new company, which it has converted into a Socimi. The first process involves the sale of 1,519 homes spread across eleven buildings in Madrid, Toledo and Guipúzcoa. CBRE and Deloitte have invited interested parties to submit their bids within the next few days. The porfolio, which includes both unsubsidised and social housing properties, as well as around 30 commercial premises, has already attracted interest from international funds such as the German fund Patrizia and the US fund Blackstone, as well as from the real estate company Hispania. According to sources in the sector, Goldman Sachs has also now joined the list of candidates.

Goldman Sachs owns a sizeable residential portfolio at the global level. And it has already made a couple of purchases in Spain. The largest was in 2013, when it acquired 3,000 homes managed by the Community of Madrid’s Housing Institute (Ivima) for €201 million. At the beginning of this year, Goldman also acquired a batch of 18 buildings from the property developer La Llave de Oro, in Barcelona. It paid €90 million for this portfolio, which included 13 unsubsidised housing buildings, three more social housing buildings and two retirement homes.

The sales process, in which Merlin also offers buyers the option of purchasing 640 parking spaces, will allow the Socimi to generate income of around €300 million, money that it will use to reduce Testa’s debt ahead of its integration with Merlin.

Refinancing

In parallel, the real estate company is working to restructure the debt it has associated with Testa, which amounts to around €1,600 million. The objective is to “adapt the current repayment structure to match the cash generated by the company”, says Merlin in the takeover brochure presented to the CNMV.

Merlin plans to take ownership of 100% of Testa – it currently holds a 77% stake – before July 2016. Once the two companies have merged, the new Socimi will hold assets worth €5,800 million and will generate revenues of more than €300 million per year.

Merlin’s share price dropped by 2.9% in trading yesterday to €11.38.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patrizia Buys “Plaza de Félix Sáenz” Retail Property In Málaga

6 August 2015 – Property Magazine

Patrizia Immobilien AG has taken over the retail space in the prestigious “Plaza de Félix Sáenz” residential and commercial building in Málaga. The listed corner building, which underwent a complete renovation as recently as 2011, is located in the middle of the pedestrian area of the Andalusian city, which has a population of around 570,000. “The retail space, totalling 1,824 square metres, is leased on a very long-term basis to a renowned European fashion retailer,” reports Borja Goday, Managing Director of Patrizia Activos Inmobiliarios España, the national subsidiary responsible for Spain and Portugal.

The interior of the “Plaza de Félix Sáenz” building has been developed to a high standard and also delivers a high degree of space efficiency. The total floor space of 1,824 square metres is divided approximately equally between the ground floor and the first floor. “This property is something special, as Spanish city centres are generally characterised by small spaces. Large spaces such as the one that has just been acquired are therefore in high demand with large chain store operators and accordingly are very lettable,” Goday continues. The purchase was made for a real estate fund launched by Patrizia as part of an individual mandate from a professional superannuation scheme in Germany. Confidentiality has been agreed with the seller, a private investor, in relation to the purchase price.

Patrizia has been monitoring the Spanish real estate market for a very long time now. In the last 12 months, the market has shown extremely positive development. After seven crisis years, the recovery is occurring more quickly than expected and the interest of many investors has returned.

Original story: Property Magazine

Translation: Carmel Drake