Tag: propierties on sale

Sareb Sells Off Portfolios in Struggle to Meet 2014 Targets

14/11/2014 – Expansion

The end of the year will undoubtedly be very busy for Sareb, the bad bank of Spain. The company has put up for sale at least six larg-volume loan and REO asset portfolios worth €1 billion, aiming at boosting its 2014 sales.

Sareb markets all kinds of properties and credits, ranging from office buildings in the north of Madrid, through outstanding and non-performing loans, hotel- and holiday apartment-backed credits, to subsidized housing units as loan collaterals.

Sources close to the entity explain that the portoflios are tailor-made responses to the demand and their preparation takes almost half a year. They also assure the end of the year is the perfect moment to put them up for grabs as many funds still would fancy have a Spanish real estate purchase under their belts before 2014 ends.

Additionally, Sareb is urged to improve its balance sheets in the second half of the year. In the first six months of 2014, the bad bank obtained a €429 million ebitda (up 23% year-on-year), just shy of the €1.2 billion total outcome from 2013.

Moreover, the Bank of Spain could oblige Sareb to prove its loan portfolio healthier at the end of 2014, like it did in 2013, due to new accounting changes the central bank forges for the next year.

Better pace of the huge transactions nearing their closing could help the bad bank to meet the original business plan targets and dodge underperformance this year. Also, for 2014, Sareb foresaw repayment of €3 billion owed to the State.

In such a context, the latest portfolio placed on the market was Project Olivia, including €250 million in outstanding developer loans with residential and commercial assets as collaterals.

Another sale enjoying significant interest is Project Meridian, a €130 million worth of hotel-backed credits.

Together with these two, Sareb disposes of a non-performing loan portfolio called Project Aneto, including credits tied to finished housing and land and valued at €400 million.

But not just that, Spain’s bad bank has got two ongoing operations more. Firstly, Project Agatha, encompassing €200 million in debt and over 3.000 subsidized flats. Secondly, launched in 2013 Project Corona which regained attention in the last weeks. This portfolio includes four office buildings situated in the north of Madrid.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: AURA REE

Recession Hands Over a Bill to Hotel Ritz

12/11/2014 – Cinco Dias

The economic crisis and the decline in the number of visitors coming to Madrid over the past years have deeply undercut the value of one of the most iconic hotels in the capital city. El Ritz by Belmond is 50% owned by Omega Capital, an investment vehicle of businesswoman Alicia Koplowitz, and chain Belmond, until recently known as Orient-Express Hotels. In the last three years, the brand value dipped from €22.9 million down to €10.9 million.

Auditor’s report on the Hotel Ritz Madrid company 2013 balance by PwC reveals that the 2011 and 2012 reporting included a caveat that incomplete data was accessible to verify correctly the brand’s value, ‘albeit the 2014 study provided us with an independently conducted valuation (…) indicating a €9.84 million loss’.

Hotel Ritz Madrid, directly operating the Hotel Ritz, registered a net revenue of €1.98 million in 2013, compared to the €3.3 million loss from a year earlier. The proceeds were intended for reducing the red from the previous years, showing a hole €46.15 million deep as per December 31st 2013.

PwC assures that the firm neither inclines towards dissolution nor ‘mandatory capital reduction’, in spite of negative working capital posting €62.16 million at the end of 2013, not considering the payables with its shareholders, and a negative net equity of €3.5 million. However, the auditor warned about ‘uncertainty about further operating capacity of the company’. From January to April 2014, Hotel Ritz Madrid met the financial liability agreed upon with the creditor banks and its two stakeholders injected €6.9 million in cash, loans of a participative nature at a 3.05% annual interest rate. In 2013, another €7.5 million was put in, and in 2012 €6.2 million more. Omega Capital and Belmond hold loans and credits amounting to €38.4 million.

At the end of 2013, the company owed €61.8 million to the banks and the Hotel Ritz was a collateral at the giant NPL portfolio ‘Octopus’ sale by Hypothtekenbank Frankfurt AG earlier this year. Throughout 2012, the establishment was thoroughly refurbished with view to ‘improving revenues in the next years’.

Omega Capital and Belmond bought the Ritz in 2003 for €125 million. Currently up for sale, the establishment called attention of such big-name brands as Marriot and Fairmont.

 

Original article: Cinco Días (by L. Salces)

Translation: AURA REE

German Bad Bank Sells Spanish Bluespace Assets & Hotel Arts Debt

31/10/2014 – El Confdencial

German banks wish to cut themselves off the Spanish real estate-related risk. First to take the step earlier this year was Commerzbank that sold €4 billion NPL portfolio called Octopus to Lone Star and JP Morgan.

Now, the bad bank of Germany, FMS Wertmanagement (FMS WM), has put up for sale a €750 million worth of property-backed loans, including the Hotel Arts in Barcelona (pictured) as one of the collaterals.

The luxury hotel was bought in 2006 by a group of investors, among which one could find Host Hotels & Resorts, the Dutch Civil Servants Pension Fund (Stichting Pensionfonds ABP) and company Jasmine Hotels, an affiliate of GIC Real Estate, belonging to the Government of Singapore. The loan amounted to €417 million as at that time banks did not require any cash payment.

Second biggest mortgage bank of Germany, Hypo Real Estate, was among the lenders and afterwards it needed bail-out twice. A part of these loans was included in the now auctioned Project Gaudi, named after the famous Catalonian architect, with the Hotel Arts as the gem collateral.

FMS, German counterpart of Sareb, has run the sale with help of Cushman & Wakefield. Apart from the five-star establishment in Barcelona, Poject Gaudi is made up of 18 loans granted for another high-end hotel in Cascais (Portugal), five shopping and entertainment centers (for instance, the one in the Barrio Art Decó, Madrid), four business parks (for example the one in San Fernando de Henares, Madrid) and Bluespace´s 17 industrial storage rooms scattered around Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. About one third of the credits are performing, and the rest are sub- or totally non-performing.

Non-binding offers are due on November 14th, and the entire process is expected to close before the end of 2014.

 

Original article: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation: AURA REE

Fifteen Prominent Funds Eyeing Madrid, Catalonia & Sareb Properties

31/10/2014 – Expansion

Real estate exhibition Barcelona Meeting Point attracted between 15 and 20 big-name international funds willing to invest in the Spanish property. Representatives of the Community of Madrid, Catalonia and the bad bank, Sareb, went forward to answer their questions.

The capital met the investors in the morning, and the turn of Generalitat and Jaime Echegoyen, Sareb’s CEO, came in the afternoon.

Madrid’s delegate Enrique Ruiz Escudero said the session was ‘very good’ as assets offered by the region (office buildings, industrial, residential and technology land)  enjoyed ‘a considerable interest’.

The greatest popularity earned downtown office units which could be renovated and later on destined for touristic use. Also, funds made a petition to public administation to give more time for analysis before demanding offers.

Bank of America Merill Lynch, Benson Elliot, Deka, Red Storm, Orion, Shaftesbury, TPG or GE Capital Real Estate are only few of the 14 grandeur funds that turned up at the private meeting with the Community of Madrid.

It is expected that Sareb will gather an audience compound of funds like Oaktree, GreenOak, Grove Internacional Partners, Credit Suisse or lawyers office Greenberg Traurig.

Also, around fifteen funds confirmed participation in the meeting with local Catalonian Government. Its representatives will present the properties to be tendered in December, among which noteworthy are: the Barcelona Stock Exchange Market building at 19 Paseo de Gracia street, Barcelona, up for sale at €88.9 million, representing the real estate crown jewel of Generalitat.

Apart from this appealing unit, two other certainly deserve attention: the Torre Munoz skyscraper at 105 Paseo de Gracia and the headquarters of the Employment and Industrial Relations department located at 148-150 Sepulveda street. Both buildings are worth €79.3 million.

The local authorities hope to earn some €168 million for the three properties and potential buyers ought to deposit a 5% value of each before November 14th.

 

Original article: Expansión 

Translation: AURA REE

Ferrovial, Domo, Amenabar & Prygesa Compete For Alluring Plot of MOD

31/10/2014 – El Confidencial

Within less than a week the sector will know the name of the new owner of the Madrid downtown plot sold by the Ministry of Defence that is asking €90.3 million for it. Merely 500 meters from the popular Paseo de la Castellana street and located on the Raimundo Fernandez Villaverde street, one may find the most attractive 14.500 square meters currently up for sale in the capital. The piece of land has been listed at portal Addmeet.com for one and half year.

Despite the commotion and interest the parcel invoked, only four companies presented their binding bids: Ferrovial, co-ops manager Domo, Basque builder Amenabar and Prynconsa’s branch Prygesa.

Participation of Ferrovial is somewhat surprising as the firm sold its residential development arm to Habitat in 2006. Allegedly, it operates on behalf of a fund. At one time, the company constructed more than 200 dwellings on land which used to house the old Madrid’s Town Planning Department, situated in the cofluence of the Guatemala, Alfonso XIII, Paraguay and the Puerto Rico streets. The piece of land was purchased by La Cooperativa EAI 310 for €65 million. Further on, the company named Domo Gestora de Viviendas to manage and develop the project.

Domo itself is another bidder at the tender for the Defense’s plot. If the firm wins, it will build 355 homes ranging from one to five bedrooms at a price fixed between 3.200 and 3.300 Euros per square meter. True bargain as for the Rios Rosas neighborhood inside the Chamberi district, where a year ago prices oscillated around 4.400 euros per built square meter, data by Foro Consultores. Also, Domo takes part in an auction of another plot in Madrid, located at 58 Cavanilles street, up for sale by Metro.

Next candidate to buy the piece of land of the Ministry is Basque builder Amenabar. ‘It is a proven, solvent company with great potential from the economic point of view’, sources from the sector describe it. Few years ago, Amenabar purchased several plots intended for subsidized housing in Arroyofresno from the city of Madrid.

The last player is Prygesa, company belonging to Pryconsa Group, one of the few recession survivors. Its project for the land assumes construction of 310 dwellings, from two to six bedrooms. Besides, Pryconsa bids for the Cuatro Caminos depots of Metro, shoulder in shoulder with Ibosa.

To take part in the auction, all bidders had to hand a 5% deposit equal to 4.513.913,25 Euros.

How high may the price reach?

The Ministry of Defense asks €90.3 million for the plot which is, in the sector’s opinion, a very low listing price. Therefore, the offers for sure will aim above that level but will not exceed €110 million.

 

Original article: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz)

Translation: AURA REE

Pontegadea, GMP & Insurers Vie For Old Saint Gobain Premises

30/10/2014 – Expansion

The sale of the old headquarters of Saint Gobain (pictured in the center), situated at 77 Paseo de la Castellana street in Madrid, has become a special focus of international funds and Spanish companies.

BBVA’s 16-storey property is located in the downtown and within the Azca zone has 16.000 square meter area. It stands just next to the Torre Picasso tower, owned by Pontegadea, and the Torre BBVA, unit of Gmp. In fact, the two neighbors expressed their interest in buying the property, said sources close to the process.

When it comes to Gmp, the real estate firm and its partner Singapore Sovereign Fund (GIC) has recently presented its new strategic plan.

In turn, Pontegadea, owner of the abovementioned Torre Picasso and the 79 Castellana building, has been doing shopping in markets of London and New York. If the firm of Amancio Ortega purchases the property, it will be able to create synergies as ‘the current tenants of its units want to grow and have no available space for that’, the sources assure.

Other potential bidders for the Saint Gobain tower are insurers like Mapfre or Generali, unable to resist an office building on the Castellana street.

The Price

In 2003, BBVA acquired the unit for €87.5 million from Saint-Gobain that have been renting it until last year, when it moved to 4.300 square meter office space at 132 Principe de Vergara street.

It is expected the entity will ask for a similar amount, in spite of the need of an overall renovation of the property, estimated to require an up to €10 million expense. In any way, until now BBVA has preferred to see the bids before setting any price.

 

Original article: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

CaixaBank Auctions €400 Mn Project Tower NPL Portfolio

29/10/2014 – Expansion

CaixaBank announces sale of one of the largest developer credit portfolios appearing on the market this year. Project Tower, as the operation was called, includes developer loans backed by residential housing developments, retail assets and land.

Alike other banks, CaixaBank is taking advantage of the institutional channel to step up the sales of troublesome property-linked loans.

KPMG, named to coordinate the sale, is waiting for the binding offers until November 10. The entire process is expected to close at the end of the next month.

A comparable worth of loans has been recently transferred by Bankia which obtained €80 million for its portfolio.

Project Tower consists of non-performing loans mostly on housing developments which account for 72% of the total volume. Individual homes represent further 19%, land 5% and shops 4%.

Two thirds of the delinquent credits are backed by properties found in Andalusia and the Canaries. The rest of the units are scattered around Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.

Majority of the loans was lent by CaixaBank itself, but also a part of it proceeds from Banca Cívica, absorbed by the Catalonian entity in 2012.

Candidates for purchasing this type of portfolios are usually funds like Cerberus, Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, Soros or Chenavari as they strive at obtaining deep discounts and grabbing the real estate assets after negotiating with the debtors.

Two Thousand Flats

In case of this portfolio, the investors vie for 2.000 apartments, 1.300 garages and storage rooms, 118 shops and 128 plots.

Earlier this year, CaixaBank sold €1.8 billion in NPLs to funds: Perry Capital, Savia Asset Management and D. E. Shaw.

Last Friday, the entity’s CEO Gonzalo Gortazar said the default rate in the bank has been shrinking over the past five quarters and stood at 10.48%. Currently, it shows an amount of €21.44 billion in doubtful loans. Delinquency on developer loan still hits very high (56%).

When it comes to respossessed assets, CaixaBank holds a €6.95 billion worth of them. From January to September, the bank sold 16.367 properties for a total of €1.71 billion.

 

Original article: Expansión (by J. Zuloaga & S. Saborit)

Translation: AURA REE

ING Puts Up For Sale Old Madrid Headquarters of Telefonica

29/10/2014 – El Confidencial

Real estate investors have been looking forward for long to see the office building at 26 Rios Rosas street, Chamberi district, Madrid available for purchase. Former headquarters of Telefonica, which in fact still occupies several floors of the property, has fallen into hands of ING.

The juicy asset with great rental potential has a 35.000 square meter area and the future buyer will have to carry out significant remodelation of the building, an obligation that may pull the bids down.

The Dutch bank received the property through foreclosure lawsuit lost by Nozar, a firm whose arm NZ Patrimonio bought the office unit for €213 million from Peabody in 2007.

The family office has faced serious financial troubles, pushed even to asking for a loan to pay-off the VAT dues.

Apart from being known as the premises of Telefonica, the property became the target of an ETA terrorist attack in 1982.

 

Original article: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: AURA REE

Drago Capital Asks €400 Mn For a Gran Via Building

23/10/2014 – Expansion

Although after such significant single-building sales as the one of the Edificio España which was auctioned for €265 million or the Marineda shopping center sold for €260 million it seems difficult to beat the record, there comes the sale of the property situated at 32 Gran Via street in the heart of Madrid.

It used to house Prisa, a means of communication group, for years and now it prepares to welcome a new tenant – the largest street Primark store in Spain.

The building’s manager, Drago Capital, has put it up for sale at an overhelming €400 million asking price. Cushman & Wakefield was named to coordinate the operation.

Outstanding Location

The address of the property is the essence of its appeal. One of the most desired high streets of Madrid, constantly busy and extremely popular among shopping lovers. In majority of cases, cinemas and small family businesses along the Gran Via have given way to international mega-stores. So has happened with the number 32.

In 2013, Drago Capital obtained a permission from the local authorities to create a retail area on the lower floors of the unit.

The Irish low-cost clothing brand, Primark, has been eyeing the Gran Via and other shopping streets of Madrid since long. The gigantic store will occupy 9.000 square meters of the 36.376 total area of the property. It is expected to open at the end of 2015.

In spite of the considerably high price, there are several investors interested in purchase of the unit, like Deka or Invesco, to name few. Such conservative buyers surely will appreciate a long-term tenant and the maginificent location of the 32 Gran Via property.

The transaction would mean enjoyable capital gains for Drago as it bought the building from Prisa together with two office buildings, one found on the Miguel Yuste street in Madrid (rented by newspaper El País) and the other on the Caspe street in Barcelona (Radio Barcelona), in 2008. At that time the fund, associating such prominent investors as PSP, Phoenix, Sun Capital and APG, paid a total amount of €315 million.

Apart from the assets acquired from Prisa, Drago Capital manages more than a thousand of branches let to Banco Santander and Bankia. Earlier this year, Drago and PSP bought the Castellana 200 complex in Madrid for €140 million, as well as a residential portfolio from Inverseguros, sealed at €142 million through the alliance with Rialto Capital Management.

The sale of 32 Gran Via building is expected to close still before the end of the year. The property is located adjacently to the unit which is going to be converted into a 5* hotel by Mexican investor Jorge Diaz Estrada.

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Goldman Sachs & Bankia Negotiate on Sale of 38 Properties

23/10/2014 – Bloomberg

Having asked around the deal, Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs is in talks to purchase 38 properties from Bankia, including houses and office buildings in a transaction amounting to €300 million.

Specifically, the portfolio called Project Lake consists of 27 blocks of flats and 11 office units.

Spanish banks are trying hard to shed their REO burden totalling at €40 billion, encouraged by rock-bottom prices and return of investors.

Last year, New York-based Goldman Sachs and its Spanish partner Azora acquired a portfolio of apartment blocks and subsidized housing developments from the Community of Madrid.

 

Original article: Bloomberg (by Sharon Smyth & Macarena Munoz)

Summary: AURA REE