Tag: private equity firm

Starwood & Carlyle Bid for San Fernando Business Park (Madrid)

11 May 2018 – Expansión

One of the major real estate operations of the year in the office segment is entering the home stretch.

The US fund Oaktree, which engaged the real estate consultancy CBRE to coordinate the sale of San Fernando Business Park, has been receiving binding offers for this office complex, located in San Fernando de Henares, in the east of the Community of Madrid.

The international investors that have expressed their interest in the asset include the investment fund Starwood Capital and the private equity firm Carlyle, both of which have submitted binding offers and so entered the final round of bidding for the business park.

Oaktree acquired the San Fernando Business Park three years ago, when the US fund purchased a portfolio of unpaid debt worth €750 million from the German bad bank FMS Wertmanagement (FMS WM), which included, in addition to the office complex: luxury hotels, such as the Arts Hotel in Barcelona and another establishment in Cascais (Portugal); five shopping centres, including two in Madrid (Plaza Éboli and Heron City Las Rozas); several storeroom buildings; and other residential and industrial assets.

San Fernando Business Park comprises 13 buildings and spans a total surface area of 86,000 m2, as well as 2,500 parking spaces.

Moreover, the business complex boasts 40,000 m2 of green space and recreational areas. San Fernando Business park is accessible directly from the A2, M45 and M50 motorways and its onsite facilities include a gym, banks, a children’s nursery, meeting rooms and an auditorium.

Office market

As we wait to see how the sale of Hispania’s office portfolio pans out, which is worth almost €600 million but which is up in the air due to the takeover bid (OPA) that the US fund Blackstone launched for the Socimi, the purchase of San Fernando Business Park looks set to be one of the most important operations of the year in the office segment.

Investment

Last year, investment in the office segment amounted to €2.3 billion, less than half the previous year, due to less activity by the Socimis, a shortage of supply in good locations and the challenge for investors to find the desired returns.

So far this year, investment in the office segment has accounted for 42% of the total transacted volume, reaching €1.72 billion, given that the figure includes Colonial’s takeover of Axiare, which was successfully closed in February and which has caused the investment figure to soar.

More than 600,000 m2 of office space was leased in Madrid last year, which represents the best figure in the last decade, whilst in Barcelona, 345,000 m2 of office space was leased during the same period.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Zambal Acquires 2 Office Buildings in Madrid for €70M

4 December 2017 – Eje Prime

Zambal is continuing to gain ground as one of the star Socimis in the office sector in Spain. The company, managed externally by IBA Capital Partners, an independent private equity firm specialising in real estate investments, has just invested €70 million in the purchase of two office buildings in Madrid, according to sources at the group.

The company formalised its purchases in November. The first is an office building located at number 96 Calle Santiago de Compostela, in Madrid. The building has a gross leasable area of 14,317 m2 and 182 parking spaces. Currently, the building is leased in its entirety to the Community of Madrid.

The Socimi has also added another property to its asset portfolio in Madrid. That building is located at number 44 Calle Lérida and has a gross leasable area of 4,039 m2. It is currently leased to Gas Natural. According to the group, both acquisitions “have been financed in their entirety using own funds and financing from the main shareholder”. On 23 November, Zambal formalised a loan with Altaya for €60 million.

Moreover, between May and July this year, the company launched a €91 million capital increase on the market through the issue and launch into circulation of 91.2 million shares with a nominal value of €1 each and an issue premium of €0.25 per share, as revealed by Eje Prime. The aim of that capital injection was to add new properties to its portfolio.

With these latest purchases, the Socimi has fattened up its asset portfolio, worth more than €730 million. These two office buildings are the first assets that Zambal has acquired in 2017. Prior to that, the most recent asset that the Socimi added to its portfolio was Gas Natural’s headquarters in Madrid, for which it paid €120 million. That property is located at number 77 Avenida de San Luis in Madrid and is leased in its entirety to Gas Natural (…).

Management team 

The Socimi is managed by executives who have extensive experience in the Spanish and European real estate markets. The head of the company is Thierry Julienne, founding partner of IBA Capital Partners and President of the Socimi. Before taking over the reins of Zambal, the executive was Director of Constructa Asset Managment in Spain and Portugal, Director of the Capital Markets Department at Auguste-Thouard, Co-founder and Director at EXA Real Estate Advisors and founder of Abedo Asset Management.

The executive Jesús Valderrama works alongside Julienne leading the company. He started his career in the international department at Eurohypo and later went on to serve as the bank’s Director of Operations in Spain. Julienne and Valderrama are accompanied by Beltrán Martínez, Administrative and Finance Director of IBA Capital, and Maria Gistau, Director of the Asset Management team at Zambal, who has held several positions of responsibility in companies such as Sonae Sierra.

Zambal has one major shareholder, the company Altaya, which is domiciled in Singapore. The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on buildings used for office and commercial purposes. By region, Madrid accounted for 80% of the Socimi’s rental income in 2015, and Barcelona the remaining 20%.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aedas Homes Will Make Stock Exchange Debut With Market Cap. Of c. €1,550M

6 October 2017 – Observatorio Inmobiliario

The property developer Aedas Homes is planning to debut on the stock market on or around 20 October at an indicative price of between €31.65 and €33.15 per share, which represents a market capitalisation of between €1,518 million and €1,585 million, according to a prospectus approved yesterday by Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The company will place between 3.016 and 3.159 million new shares through an initial public offering (IPO) to obtain gross revenues of around €100 million.

Moreover, the current owners – funds managed by the private equity firm Castlelake – will sell up to 17.9 million of their shares through a public sale offering. The firm’s stake currently accounts for 40% of the company’s share capital.

The existing shareholders will also give the global coordinators of the operation the option to buy an additional 10% (“greenshoe”).

The offer will be targeted exclusively at qualifying institutional investors, both in Spain and overseas.

Following the debut, the free float (percentage of capital that trades freely on the stock market) will stand at around 44%, a percentage that will increase to 48% if the purchase option over the additional 10% stake is exercised.

According to the prospectus, the current shareholders’ stake is expected to amount to 56.13% in the event that the additional purchase option is not exercised, in which case, the price will equal the midpoint of the indicative range; and 51.75% if the “greenshoe” is exercised.

The property developer will request the listing of its shares on the stock markets of Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.

Aedas Homes plans to use the funds that it raises through the IPO to invest in future growth opportunities and to partially finance the expansion of the company and the purchases included in its house building plan for the period 2017-2023.

The global coordinators of the operation are Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman Sachs International.

Aedas Homes is a property developer, headquartered in Madrid, which specialises exclusively in residential construction. Its primary activity consists of investing in buildable land and building housing developments in regions where demand is strong and sustained.

Original story: Observatorio Inmobiliario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinver & TH Real Estate Buy Nassica Shopping Centre For €140M

8 November 2016 – Real Estate Press

TH Real Estate and Neinver have completed the purchase of the Nassica shopping centre from the private equity firm KKR for €140 million.

At the beginning of 2015, Neinver and TH Real Estate signed a strategic alliance to create a leading platform for outlet centres in Europe. Each company owns a 50% stake in the joint venture, which owns several assets in a portfolio that now also includes the complex located in Getafe (Madrid).

Nassica has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 50,200 m2 and 4,000 parking spaces. The centre receives twelve million visitors per year.

In this way, the joint venture between TH Real Estate and Neinver have acquired the complex in Getafe just two years after KKR purchased it for €100 million.

With operations in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands and the Czech Republic, Neinver has consolidated its position in the European retail sector and now manages 24 centres, covering a GLA of 593,000 m2, housing almost 2,000 stores and more than 1,000 exclusive national and international brands.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Starwood Joins Forces With HI Partners To Invest €500M

14 March 2016 – Expansión

International investors are becoming increasingly interested in the Spanish hotel sector. The US investor group Starwood Capital has joined forces with HI Partners, the subsidiary of Banco Sabadell, to invest €500 million in the purchase of hotels in Spain, over the next three years.

According to market sources, Starwood and HI Partners will create a joint venture that will specialise in the acquisition of hotel assets located in the main tourist areas, such as the Costa del Sol, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, the Costa Brava and the Costa Dorada. The aim is to acquire 3-star and 4-star hotels that have more than 200 rooms. The vendors may be individual investors, as well as hotel chains interested in divesting their real estate assets.

Starwood Capital Group will control 70% of the joint venture, which will be implemented through the creation of a limited company. The US group – which already teamed up with Meliá in Spain in 2015 – will contribute funds through its Starwood Global Opportunity Fund.

Local partners

HI Partners will control the remaining 30% of the shares and will also take care of the management of the company, under the leadership of its CEO, Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas. Banco Sabadell owns a 99% stake in HI Partners and the remaining stake belongs to Hernández-Puértolas and two other founding partners of the hotel management and investment company: Sergio Carrascosa and Santiago Fisas. The three have extensive experience in the hotel sector, as they used to be involved with Reig Capital – the company that owns the Mandarin hotel in Barcelona – and other companies such as MedGroup and Stein Group.

The alliance is the result of numerous investment opportunities that currently exist in the hotel sector in Spain, which broke a historical record in 2015 with the sale of 143 hotels worth €2,650 million, more than double the investment volume recorded the year before. Listed Socimis, hotel chains and Spanish family offices accounted for 74% of the investment, but this year overseas investors are expected to gain in weight and the alliance between HI Partners and Starwood is a good example.

“The Spanish hotel market is very attractive for us due to the growing demand from domestic and international clients and the on-going recovery of the economy”, said Keith Evans, Vice-President of Starwood Capital. According to the executive, the firm has chosen HI “because it is a reputable manager with local experience”, which will allow us to fulfil the objective “of creating a portfolio of high quality hotels in which all of Spain’s main tourist destinations are represented”.

In June 2015, Starwood reached an agreement with Meliá to acquire a chain of holiday hotels, which included seven assets and 2,933 beachfront rooms. These hotels were transferred to a company in which the fund owns an 80% stake and the hotel chain the remaining 20% stake. Meliá’s idea is to re-launch its Sol brand as part of this initiative.

According to sources at Starwood, the two alliances signed in Spain to date will have different investment strategies. Since its creation, the private equity firm has invested more than €77,000 million in real estate assets all over the world; its portfolio contains 2,600 hotels.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baldomero Falcones Acquires 5% Stake In Renta Corporación

23 December 2015 – Efe

According to a statement made by Renta Corporación, the businessman Baldomero Falcones has acquired a 5% stake in the company. Until now that stake was owned by Sareb, the entity also known as the “bad bank”.

The CEO of Renta Corporación, David Vila, has indicated that the incorporation of Baldomero Falcones will allow the company to face the future challenges set out in its strategic plan “with a significantly reinforced capital structure”.

Falcones used to be the President of the construction company FCC, until January 2013. In addition, he has also served as the President of MasterCard Internacional and the Director General of Banco Santander, as well as a member of the board of that entity for 15 years.

Falcones has also chaired Banco Urquijo Limited in the United Kingdom; Hispano Americano Sociedade do Inestimento in Portugal; Banco Hispano Americano Benelux, Banco Urquijo Chile, Fiat Finance and Santander Seguros.

He is the founder of the private equity firm Magnum Industrial Partners and a member of the Board of Directors of Unión Fenosa, CESCE, Generali España, Seguros La Estrella, Europay International and Banif.

He served as the President and CEO of FCC for five years and received compensation amounting to €7.5 million when he left the construction group, due to the early termination of his contract.

Renta Corporación has prepared a strategic plan for the period 2016-2020, whose objectives include doubling its annual net profit to €20 million, amongst others.

Original story: Efe

Translation: Carmel Drake