Tag: Reale

Reale Seguros Reorganises its Properties to Obtain Higher Returns

15 October 2018 – Expansión

Reale Seguros is reorganising its real estate investments with the aim of achieving higher returns.

The insurance company, the Spanish subsidiary of the Italian firm Reale, has removed from its balance sheet properties with a combined market value of €67 million, which it has transferred to Igarsa, a real estate company belonging to the Reale group, under the formula of a capital increase.

The properties are not linked through provisions to the activity of Reale Seguros. The main asset is located on Vía Augusta in Barcelona and is occupied by Deutsche Bank as the tenant. The package also includes smaller offices, which Reale Seguros could divest.

The assets contributed by the insurance company to Igarsa will join those already owned by that company, with a market value of €80 million, says José Ramón López, Director General of Resources and Media at Reale Seguros. Its main assets are two properties located on Paseo de la Castellana and Paseo de Recoletos in Madrid, which are leased to Condé Nast, the editor of Vogue, and Garrigues, respectively.

The relocation of the real estate assets of Reale Seguros is the starting point for starting to apply an active management of these properties with purchases and sales depending on the opportunities in the market.

The divestments are expected to focus on the smaller offices and in terms of acquisitions, “we are looking at alternatives, although we do not have anything concrete on the table at the moment”, said López.

To move forward with this project, the insurance firm has signed an agreement with the real estate arm of the group in Italy, which has assets under management amounting to €1.5 billion and “which will help us to undertake an industrial management of our portfolio, with the possibility of selling assets to funds as well as looking for opportunities”, said the director of Reale Seguros.

Igarsa, which is headquartered in Madrid, is controlled (95%) by the Italian firm Mutua Reale, whilst the Spanish firm Reale Seguros owns the remaining 5% stake.

The properties linked to the commitments of Reale Seguros remain on the company’s balance sheet. They include its headquarters in Madrid, located on Calle Príncipe de Vergara, a building that was purchased from Sabadell.

Reale recorded premiums of €456 million during the first half of 2018, up by 2.5% compared to the same period in 2017.

Original story: Expansión (by E. del Pozo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

AEW Acquires Office Building On C/Francisco Silvela 106

22 September 2017 – El Confidencial

The fund AEW Europe has recently joined the growing number of investors who are backing the Madrilenian street Principe de Vergara, one of the main thoroughfares in the Chamartín neighbourhood. The road has witnessed a proliferation in the volume of important real estate operations involving corporate headquarters in recent years.

And it is on the corner of that street, at its intersection with Francisco Silvela, at number 106 on the street that bears the name of the historical Spanish politician, that a private investor, advised by Aguirre Newman, has sold a building with a surface area of 6,300 m2 to AEW for €30 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction.

This operation follows several other important transactions that have been closed recently in the area, whose proximity to the Avenida de America transport hub, makes for easy access to the airport and whose proximity to both the Salamanca neighbourhood and the Paseo de la Castellana business district, have caused interest from owners and tenants to soar.

One example is the recent sale of the building at number 42 Calle Suero de Quiñones, the new headquarters of the law firm Uría y Mendéndez, which Hispania sold to the businessman José Lladó, owner of Técnicas Reunidas. The Socimi agreed that sale in the spring, a few months before the construction work was due to finish. The doors of that office are expected to open in November, whereby enabling the law firm to expand the headquarters that it already has nearby at number 187, Principe de Vergara.

Meanwhile, the property at number 108 on the same street, right next door to the building that AEW has just acquired, is also owned by Hispania, which purchased it just over two years ago for €25 million. The next one along, number 112, is owned by Colonial, which bought the whole building two years ago; it has since invested €45 million in the complete renovation of the 11,400 m2 property.

Opposite, at number 125 Principe de Vergara, the insurance company Reale purchased the entire building from Banco Sabadell two years ago and has now installed its new headquarters there. Acciona also expressed interest in that property at the time, as it had wanted to move its headquarters there, just a few metres away from the central offices of its rival, Ferrovial.

With this operation, AEW completes its seventh investment in Spain in two years. The fund has made a strong commitment to the country, where it has just acquired the historical Mercado de Fuencarral, which it has already leased in its entirety to Decathlon. It also opened an office in Madrid in January, which is being led by Carsten Czarnetzki.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurosic Teams Up With Allianz To Launch A Socimi In Spain

13 February 2017 – El Economista

The Socimi market is still going strong and for the first time since the legislation governing these listed companies was reformed, a vehicle is now being created with mostly French capital. In December 2015, the French real estate giant Eurosic created Eurosic Investment Spain Socimi, with the aim of debuting it on the stock market with a share capital of more than €100 million, according to sources in the sector.

Eurosic, which already tried less than a year and a half ago to debut on the Spanish stock market by purchasing Testa, will launch this Socimi in partnership with the Allianz group, which will use this vehicle to take a new step in its strategy to gain weight in the Spanish real estate business.

The insurance company, through two of its companies, Allianz Invest Pierre and Euler Hermes Reinsurance – world leader in credit insurance – has entered the shareholding of Eurosic Investment Spain Socimi. Both companies, which are headquartered in Switzerland and France, respectively, have taken positions in an operation worth €67 million, according to TTR.

Allianz gains in strength

With this move, Allianz increases its exposure to Spanish real estate, a market it broke into last September, through Allianz Real Estate, which opened a branch in Madrid to track operations in the Iberian Peninsula and manage the Group’s properties on the ground.

Allianz Real Estate’s portfolio contains assets under management worth €41,700 million; €29,300 million in direct and indirect investments and loans worth €12,400 million – figures as at end of 2015, when operations amounting to €7,400 million were closed. Its aim is to reach AuM of €60,000 million “within a few years”.

The strategy that Allianz is carrying out, which includes acquiring stakes in debt and listed companies, as well as direct and indirect positions in financing, places it amongst the most active insurance companies in the real estate market. (…).

Companies such as Mapfre, Mutua Madrileña, Santalucía, Reale and Línea Directa have acquired properties recently and are now looking for opportunities, although their incursion as financiers is residual or non-existent, in contrast to the role played by multinationals such as Axa and Allianz.

Eurosic’s portfolio

In Spain, Eurosic set the wheels in motion last year to feed its portfolio of assets. In this way, in October, it closed the purchase of two buildings in Madrid, at number 40 on Calle Atocha and number 27 on Calle Magdalena. In the same month, it acquired Hotel Tropicana, located on La Carihuela seafront in Torremolinos. This year, it has continued its spending spree with the purchase of Hotel Monterrey Roses (a three-star establishment in Roses, Gerona) and a portfolio of assets in Palma de Mallorca, comprising two hotels and some tourist apartments.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Reale Finalises Purchase Of Sabadell’s HQ In Madrid

11 June 2015 – El Confidencial

The building at number 125, Calle Príncipe de Vergara, one of the most important thoroughfares in Madrid, is about to change hands. Sabadell opened a competitive process for the sale, which is about to come to an end, with Reale as the favourite to seal the deal.

The insurance company, which is being advised by Inmospace, has submitted a bid for more than €45 million, compared with the asking price of €40 million that was set at the beginning of the process. This figure virtually makes Realia the sure-fire winner in a deal that has attracted interest from up to eight bidders, according to sources close the deal.

The other interested parties include other insurance companies, such as Plus Ultra, although, unless there is a last minute surprise, Reale will end up signing the definitive agreement with Sabadell within the next two or three weeks.

This timetable matches the one being managed by the Catalan entity for its relocation to a new headquarters in Las Tablas, a process that will begin in July and will be carried out in several stages, in a phased way. Once completed, Reale will establish its new headquarters in Príncipe de Vergara.

(…)

Solvia transaction

Solvia, the real estate subsidiary of the Catalan entity, has led this whole process, which has not required any external advisors. It has culminated in the reorganisation of the properties and headquarters that the bank has carried out recently.

Last year, Sabadell was one of the major players in the real estate office market in Madrid, thanks to the sale of Vodafone’s new headquarters, an office complex measuring 50,000 m2, to the British fund London & Regional for €117 million and with the commitment of the telecommunications operator to continue as the tenant.

In parallel, the entity reached an agreement with Vodafone to acquire its former headquarters, located in the neighbourhood of Las Tablas, an area in which firms such as Telefónica, BBVA and FCC have also chosen to locate their headquarters. This move, which many industry experts viewed very positively, was also orchestrated by Solvia, the real estate company led by Javier García del Río.

With capacity for 1,500 people, all of Sabadell’s central services will move to this new headquarters in the North of Madrid, with exception of its territorial operations, which will remain in Calle Velázquez, and its private banking division, which will continue in Calle Serrano. The Presidency will also remain in Calle Serrano, which accommodates both the Chairman, Josep Oliu, and the CEO, Jaime Guardiola, when they are in the capital.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake