Tag: Rafael Miranda

Blackstone Formalises its “Hostile” Takeover Bid for Hispania

23 April 2018 – Valencia Plaza

Blackstone has submitted to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) its request for authorisation for the takeover bid that it has launched over the Socimi Hispania, an operation worth €1.905 billion, which would see the US fund become the largest hotel owner in the country. The supervisor must now analyse whether the bid is admissible and, in the event that it deems that it is, assess the documentation for its approval. Only then will the period be opened for acceptance of the deal by the shareholders.

In this way, Blackstone has formalised its takeover bid for the hotel Socimi that it announced on 5 April, after it purchased 16.5% of the share capital from the investor George Soros and whereby became the company’s largest shareholder. The bid is effectively directed at the 83.5% of Hispania’s share capital that the fund does not yet control, by offering €17.45 per share, which brings the operation value to around €1.59 billion.

In the documentation submitted to the supervisor on Monday, Blackstone did not include any bank guarantee to secure that amount, although it did state that it would present such a guarantee within a period of seven working days that it has for that purpose. The consideration being offered by the fund represents a discount of 5.6% with respect to the share price of €18.50 at which Hispania was trading before the operation was announced publicly.

Blackstone is formalising the takeover bid after Hispania announced that it regarded the approach as hostile and that it will look for “alternatives” to the operation that improve the price proposed and, therefore, “maximise” value. The Socimi chaired by Rafael Miranda is pushing ahead with its intention to look for other options to the bid, given that prior to its formulation, and before it announced its intention to liquidate its assets by 2020, the firm had received expressions of interest from around half a dozen overseas investors.

For its part, Blackstone is looking to create a hotel asset ‘giant’, given that this deal would see it become the largest owner of this type of establishment in the country. The fund would add the 46 hotels that comprise the Socimi’s portfolio, most of which are located on the islands and in the main tourist areas of the country, to the fourteen establishments that it purchased last year from one of Banco Sabadell’s companies (HI Partners). Currently, and following the departure of Soros, Hispania’s main reference shareholders are overseas funds, including Fidelity, which owns a 7% stake, Conepa with 6%, and Bank of Montreal and BlackRock, with 3% each.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hispania’s Shareholders Approve Block Sale of its Office Portfolio for €600M+

4 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Hispania is putting the sale of its office portfolio back on the table. Today,  at its General Shareholders’ Meeting, the Socimi will submit to approval the block sale of its rental office portfolio, a set of 25 buildings worth €603 million. It is a divestment that the Socimi, in which George Soros holds a stake, launched a year ago, suspended in October 2017, and which it has now resumed.

Hispania’s assembly is also going to approve the distribution to shareholders of an extraordinary dividend of €1.97 gross per share linked to the completion of that divestment. The payment will be charged against the issue premium and will involve distributing €215 million in total. This dividend will be added to the ordinary remuneration to shareholders, which will amount to €0.87 per share this year, the first payment of which, amounting to €0.41295 gross per share, was already made in March.

Besides Soros, who holds a 16.6% stake in the firm, the other main shareholders are other overseas institutional investors, such as Fidelity, with a 7% stake, Conepa, with another 6% stake, and Bank of Montreal and BlackRock, with 3% each. The Socimi chaired by Rafael Miranda is framing the sale of its office portfolio within its strategy to focus on the hotel business.

Other items on the agenda at Hispania’s General Shareholders’ Meeting include the re-election of the directors to their roles as the Chairman of the firm and another five members, including Concepción Osácar, José Pedro Pérez-Llorca and Joaquín Ayuso. Hispania will also approve its accounts for 2017, which reported a net profit of €222.82 million, down by 27.7% compared to the previous year.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Soros Will Inject €37M Into Hispania’s €231M Capital Increase

12 May 2016 – El Economista

Hispania has resolved to launch a capital increase amounting to €230.7 million, with the aim of raising funds to allow it to continue investing in the purchase of new real estate assets, according to reports by the Socimi.

The company’s largest shareholder, George Soros, has already expressed his attention of participating in the operation, in line with the 16% stake that he holds in the firm. That means he will inject another €37 million into the business.

By virtue of the increase, Hispania will issue 25.8 million new shares at €7.95 per share, a price that represents a 37.5% discount with respect to the closing price on the stock market on Wednesday (€12.74).

The company expects that the increase will be completed by 9 June, when the new shares should start trading. The operation will begin within the next few days, just as soon as Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) gives the green light to the information brochure.

This is the second capital increase that Hispania has launched within the last year, following the accelerated capital increase that it completed in April 2015, through which it raised €337 million.

In this case, the Socimi is resorting to its existing shareholders once again, given that “it has already committed all of its investment capacity” and because it has already identified investment opportunities amounting to €1,500 million and is in “advanced negotiations” to complete the purchase of new real estate assets amounting to around €200 million.

In this way, the company chaired by Rafael Miranda expects to continue increasing its asset portfolio, which comprises hotels, offices and residential properties, worth €1,425 million at the end of 2015, up by 14.8% on the purchase price.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake