Tag: Quabit Inmobiliaria

Quabit Issues 4-Year Bonds Amounting to €20M

29 March 2019 – Valencia Plaza

The property developer Quabit Inmobiliaria has issued bonds amounting to €20 million through its wholly owned subsidiary Quabit Finance. The bonds have a maturity of 4 years and a coupon of 8.25%, which will be paid annually.

The success of the placement represents a great boost to the company’s strategy and confirms investors’ confidence in its management capacity. The funds raised will be used to undertake new investments, finance new projects and whereby continue with the firm’s growth and expansion plan.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Quabit Generated Profits of €1.1M in H1 2018

27 July 2018 – El Economista

Quabit Inmobiliaria recorded a net profit of €1.1 million during the first half of the year, compared with losses of €3.5 million during the same period in 2017, according to information submitted by the company on Friday to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The firm’s net turnover amounted to €9.1 million during H1, which more than tripled the €2.8 million recorded a year earlier; and the operating result entered positive territory, amounting to €3.6 million.

The real estate firm closed land operations amounting to €24 million, spanning a buildable surface area 85,130 m2, during the first six months of the year.

In total, since kicking off its growth plan in 2017, Quabit has invested €193 million in plots to build almost 4,850 homes, which means that it has already fulfilled 75% of its target to promote 7,900 homes by 2022.

As at 30 June 2018, the firm’s residential portfolio comprises 3,237 homes, which will generate an estimated turnover of €672 million that will be reflected in the income statement as they are handed over in 2018 and 2019. In June, handover began of 116 homes on the Quabit Aguas Vivas urbanisation in Guadalajara, and the firm will finish the year with a total of 215 homes delivered.

The group highlighted that it will see the sale of almost 1,000 homes in 2019 before it reaches its “cruising speed” of 3,000 deliveries per year in 2022.

Original story: El Economista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit to Build 700 More Homes in Aguas Vivas (Guadalajara)

14 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit Inmobiliaria is building homes in Guadalajara. This week, the property developer has handed over the keys to 116 social housing properties in Guadalajara, in the new Aguas Vivas development and at the same time, it has laid the first brick for the second phase of another 196 homes. According to the President and CEO of Quabit Inmobiliaria, Félix Abánades (pictured below, right), the company plans to build around 700 properties in this part of Guadalajara over the coming months.

This development is the first new build social housing complex to have been completed in Guadalajara in the last decade, in the new Aguas Vivas development. After completing the first phase, and starting the earth movement works of the second phase, Quabit Inmobiliaria is now also on the verge of starting to market the third phase, which includes another 193 properties, according to Guadaque.

Félix Abánades highlighted that it has taken ten years to start constructing new build homes from scratch again and he expressed his satisfaction that this work is being carried out in Guadalajara and that it is involving social housing units.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Property Development Sector Will Continue its Expansive Cycle for the Next 3 Years

30 May 2018 – Eje Empresas

The CEO of Neinor Homes, Juan Velayos, has highlighted that the “healthy and strong bullish cycle” that the property development market is experiencing at the moment, will result in a “positive” performance over the next three years, before reaching “a situation of stability lasting many years”.

The main challenge (facing the market) is to “become more predictable”, in aspects such as the time it takes to obtain licences, a problem that may be resolved because “the market is going to continue helping”, according to Velayos.

The Director of Strategy and Investment at Aedas Homes, Sergio Gálvez, explained that the situation in the property development sector is “unique” given that it is recovering from “a very low level”.

The Executive President of Inmobiliaria del Sur, Ricardo Pumar, agrees that “the macroeconomic forecasts point to a very good situation for the next three years”.

Pumar stressed that the recovery is “widespread” but he has opted to facilitate access to housing for young people to “boost the whole sector”.

The President of Quabit Inmobiliaria, Félix Abánades, predicts that the expansion cycle “will last for six years” and he agreed that there will be “significant increases in prices” over the next three to four years.

The market for property developers is clearly expanding and growing with a very “solid” demand, he added.

Investors back the property development sector

The Partner at the consultancy firm Deloitte, Alberto Valls, highlighted that “investor appetite continues” but is still a long way off the levels seen before the economic crisis.

“There are barriers to entry, such as capital, the lack of available land to build on and the limited production capacity”, he said.

He said that half of the property development market is concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga and Valencia.

The Spanish sector is more fragmented than those of other European countries, given that the top five property developers account for just 6% of the market, whereas in the UK and France, they represent around 40%.

Nevertheless, Valls pointed out that “the trend is towards corporate concentration and the stock market debut of new players”.

Original story: Eje Empresas

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit & Avenue Capital Create a Company to Buy Residential Land

4 December 2017 – El Mundo

Quabit Inmobiliaria and the global investment firm Avenue Capital have constituted a company, in which the US fund holds an almost 10% stake and the property developer controls the majority shareholding, to carry out the purchase and development of residential land in Málaga (Mijas), the Balearic Islands and the Corredor del Henares.

In this way, Avenue Capital is ratifying its support for Quabit’s investment and growth plan and is showing its confidence in the development of those assets, worth almost €75 million. The assets have a combined buildable surface area with capacity for approximately 2,000 homes, according to a statement issued by the property developer.

According to the same source, Quabit Inmobiliaria and Avenue have signed all of the documents that set out the terms of the financing line agreement amounting to up to €40 million, announced in September. Of those funds, which will be used to buy the aforementioned plots of land, 15% will take the form of a participation loan and the rest will correspond to senior debt.

The remaining cost of the land will be financed by Quabit Inmobiliaria through newly issued shares as the result of the capital increase that has already been approved by the General Shareholders’ Meeting.

Upwards review of the Business Plan 2017-2022

This new financing line from Avenue forms part of the financing arrangement for new investments set out in the Business Plan that the company has just updated to reflect the intense investment effort that it has undertaken in 2017. Quabit now has a land portfolio spanning almost 1 million m2 and it has put several residential developments on the market.

The company chaired by Félix Abánades has revised upwards its growth and expansion plan in such a way that it has almost doubled (92%) the objective for the number of new homes it expects to build between now and 2022, to 7,888 units, from the 4,100 units estimated initially.

“Since March, we have managed to close land operations amounting to almost €150 million, for less than initially forecast, thanks to the management expertise of the entire team. That gives us great visibility over our business plan and, in turn, allows us to extend our projections until 2022, which is when we will reach our cruising speed, with the hand over of 3,000 homes per year”, explains the President.

This investment effort and the launch of new developments will allow the company to exceed the revenue and profit forecasts it made in January by 20%. The company has designed an ambitious land acquisition plan, which will see it invest €673 million. The forecasts indicate that the firm will record revenues of €1.915 billion, generate operating cash flow of €463 million and distribute €87 million in cash dividends between now and 2022.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Buys 8 Plots Of Land For €52M

25 September 2017 – Quabit

Quabit Inmobiliaria is stepping on its investment plan accelerator, redoubling its strategic commitment to the Costa del Sol with the completion of nine operations involving residential land in Málaga, and opening a new area of growth in the Balearic market.

Specifically, the company chaired by Félix Abánades has closed 8 operations involving buildable land amounting to €52 million, with a buildable surface area of 123,000 m2 to construct between 720 and 740 homes.

Quabit is going to finance 70% of the purchase with financial support from funds advised by the investment firm Avenue Capital Group, and the remaining 30%, with shares in the company, through one or more non-monetary capital increases.

“For the second time” – explains the Chairman Félix Abánades – “Quabit is using this formula to secure new land, given that at the same time as barely diluting the shareholders’ stakes and helping to grow and strengthen the company, it allows us to consolidate our real estate assets and collaborate in the reinvigoration of the sector”.

Malaga and Costa del Sol: 178,500 m2 of buildable land for 1,600 homes.

Quabit has also just closed a new portfolio of 7 buildable residential plots of land, the majority of which are located in Malaga capital, with a combined investment of €31.3 million, and a buildability of 48,000 m2 for the construction of 450 homes.

That large operation comes just a week after another involving land in Mijas for the construction of 674 homes and is in addition to the purchases made by Quabit in Málaga capital and the Costa del Sol during the first half of the year.

Overall, Quabit has 178,500 m2 of buildable land in total in the province of Málaga for the construction of more than 1,600 homes.

Moreover, the company is already marketing Phases 1 and 2 of another promotion of 100 homes on the Casares Golf course and is preparing to launch 2 developments in Málaga capital later this month, in the Puerto de la Torre area.

New land in the Balearic Islands

The company has completed another operation amounting to €21 million in the Balearic Islands to build a tourist and residential development with a buildability of almost 75,000 m2.

Visibility of the Business Plan for 2017-2021

The execution of Quabit’s Business Plan is continuing to gain visibility and its portfolio of land is gaining in value through all these important purchases of high-quality buildable land.

To date in 2017, the company has closed operations in Madrid, Corredor del Henares, Málaga and the Balearic Islands amounting to €114.7 million, with a buildable surface area of 321,500 m2 for the construction of almost 2,500 homes.

Altogether, adding to this figure the 1,226 homes to be developed in the portfolio, Quabit now has a portfolio of residential land on which to build 3,700 homes, which represents 90% of its target development between now and 2021 (4,090 homes) and demonstrates its vocation for growth and its commitment to take advantage of the opportunities currently available in the Spanish residential market.

Original story: Quabit

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Buys Land From Rayet For €30.1M

25 September 2017 – Expansión

Quabit Inmobiliaria has purchased a portfolio of buildable residential land in the Corredor del Henares (Madrid) from its main shareholder, Grupo Rayet, for €30.15 million, according to a statement issued on Friday by the property developer.

30% of the amount will be covered by financial support from funds advised by the investment firm Avenue Capital Group and the remaining 70% will be financed by shares in Quabit, which will carry out a non-monetary capital increase at a price of €2 per share. The land transferred, according to the company itself, “are the plots with the greatest potential”, in such a way as that the transaction “redoubles” the group’s confidence in the strategic plan of its subsidiary. These plots have a buildable surface area of 131,000 m2 and will allow for the construction of 1,053 homes.

This is the third operation that Quabit has undertaken in September, after recent purchases on the Costa del Sol and the Balearic Islands, a result of which it will be able to build 1,400 homes. In this way, the company already has residential land on which to build more than 4,700 homes, far exceeding its objective for the period between now and 2021, which was set at 4,090 homes. Moreover, Quabit is preparing to convene an Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting to subject the capital increases linked to these most recent land acquisitions to the approval of its shareholders.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

ACS & Sacyr To Build Homes For Quabit In Madrid & Barcelona

31 May 2017 – El Mundo

Quabit Inmobiliaria has engaged Dragados (ACS) and Sacyr to build two new housing estates that it is developing in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. The two projects will involve a total investment of €28.2 million, which will be financed by CaixaBank, according to a statement made by the company.

The large construction firms are starting to undertake residential projects for third parties once again. In this case, the new homes form part of the growth plan that Quabit is working on, with the aim of completing 4,000 homes in 2021.

Specifically, Dragados, the construction subsidiary of ACS, will be responsible for building a luxury housing development that Quabit is promoting in the Madrilenian town of Boadilla del Monte.

The project involves building 12 homes, with a useful surface area of 450 m2 each. All of the homes will have six bedrooms, a plot of land measuring 1,000 m2 and an individual heated pool. The development will require an investment of €11.1 million, of which €5.7 million corresponds to the cost of construction, and 75% of the properties are already sold. The houses are expected to be completed by September 2018.

Two blocks of flats in Barcelona

Meanwhile, in the Catalan capital, specifically, in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Quabit has engaged Sacyr to build two 7-storey housing blocks, in a single complex, with swimming pools and green spaces.

Specifically, the development, which will require an investment of €17 million, will contain 63 apartments of between two and four bedrooms, of which 75% have already been pre-sold. They are expected to be completed in October 2018. (…).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Acquires 6 Plots Of Land In Málaga & Guadalajara

8 May 2017 – Valencia Plaza

Quabit Inmobiliaria has completed the purchase of six new plots of buildable land, four in Málaga and two in the Corredor del Henares (Alovera, Guadalajara), spanning more than 30,000 m2, on which it plans to build 365 homes. The real estate company is expected to generate turnover amounting to €68 million from these new developments.

In this way, the property developer chaired by Félix Abánades is continuing to fulfil its strategic business plan. These new acquisitions come after Quabit purchased two other plots, also in the Corredor area, just a month ago, for the construction of another 300 homes.

Quabit’s growth plan includes investments in land with the objective of completing more than 4,000 homes between now and 2021. This year alone, the company plans to build around 1,500 homes, and to date, it has started work on 42% (629 homes) of the total residential properties forecast for 2017.

Quabit plans to make more investments to develop between 800 and 1,000 homes over the coming months, primarily in Madrid, Corredor del Henares and the Costa del Sol.

El Cañaveral, Málaga

Quabit has purchased four plots of land in the El Cañaveral area, south of Puerto de la Torre, in Málaga capital, where there has been a clear reactivation of the new build market, due primarily to a shortage of stock. In total, almost 26,000 m2 of buildable land for the construction of 209 high-rise homes and 42 family homes, with a forecast turnover of €47 million. The company plans to put these properties on the market in July.

Corredor del Henares

In parallel, Quabit has bought two other buildable plots of land in the Las Suertes Ciudad Jardín, the best urbanisation in the Corredor del Henares. On the first plot, the company will build 72 high-rise homes; and on the second plot, it will construct 24 family homes. In total, it has bought more than 14,000 m2 of buildable land for the construction of these two new developments, which will go on the market in less than a month, with a forecast turnover of €20.6 million. The Las Suertes complex will have 200,000 m2 of green space, 10 km of cycle paths, 53,000 m2 of pedestrian walkways, large avenues and high-quality residential developments.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Joins Forces With US Fund Avenue Capital

15 December 2016 – Valencia Plaza

Quabit Inmobiliaria and the US investment firm Avenue Capital have signed a binding framework agreement for a financing line amounting to €60 million from funds advised by Avenue Europe International Management, L.P.

The available funds under this credit line will be used to acquire buildable urban plots of land in the Community of Madrid and the surrounding area, as well as in other regions with high potential for demand.

After successfully completing a capital increase last year, the company chaired by Félix Abánades, has been holding intensive negotiations with different investment funds for the last few months. It has now closed this agreement with Avenue Capital, given the professionalism of the investment firm and its certainty for the great potential for growth and profitability in the Spanish real estate sector.

With the signing of this agreement, Quabit Inmobiliaria is continuing to fulfil the objectives set out in its strategic plan to 2020. Specifically, it means that it is fulfilling another one of the most significant milestones in its business plan regarding the raising of financing to undertake new investments and develop new residential projects.

“The strategic agreement with Avenue is a perfect symbiosis for generating value. On the one hand, Quabit has more than 20 years of experience, an expert team in the management of land and real estate developments, sensitivity and market knowledge, an established financial structure and a healthy equity position. All of this, combined with Avenue’s investment capacity, gives us the capability to start growing again and to become one of the key players in the consolidation of the real estate business in Spain once more”.

The most important terms of the agreement are:

– The funds from this credit line will be used to finance 70% of all land acquisitions. The remaining 30% will be financed by Quabit.

– The funds must be drawn down during the first year of the contract, and repaid when the credit line matures (after 4 years).

– Quabit may make early repayments from month 18 onwards and it may reuse the funds to make new investments in land.

– A new company will be constituted for each one of the plots of land that are financed. Each company will be owned 100% indirectly by Quabit.

– Moreover, Quabit will provide Avenue with warrants over its shares, which will allow the investment firm to own up to 6% of the real estate company’s share capital if it subscribes to new share issues in several tranches. During the first two years of the agreement, the average subscription price will be €3.25/share; and during the last two years, it will be €3.75/share. The use of the different warrant tranches will depend on how much of the credit line is drawn down.

Quabit and Avenue have set a deadline of 28 December for signing all of the documents that form part of this agreement, which will also be the start date for the line of credit’s term.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake