Redevco on the Hunt for Mixed-Use Buildings to Join the Rental Housing Bandwagon

3 June 2019 – El Confidencial

A few months ago, Redevco, one of the largest players in the commercial real estate sector in Europe, announced the launch of a €500 million fund aimed at creating a pan-European portfolio of 2,500 rental homes. The aim is to focus primarily on the Netherlands and Germany, but with Spain and the UK accounting for a significant share.

In Spain, the company is now analysing various operations with the aim of closing one or more during the second half of this year. The shopping centre specialist is considering all kinds of strategies, from acquiring properties already for rent to teaming up with property developers and buying assets to renovate.

It is mainly focusing on mixed-used properties in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao, with an average investment volume of around €20 million per asset. Its aim is to acquire entire properties, rather than small or dispersed assets and it is looking for two-bedroom homes with an average monthly rent of €1,000.

In Spain, Redevco’s commercial portfolio comprises 32 properties worth €800 million. It also operates a joint venture with Ares to invest €500 million in shopping centres, which currently owns the Mercado de San Miguel and Parque Corredor, both in Madrid.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

VBare’s Profits Rose by 52% in Q1 2019 to €1.1M

15 May 2019 – Eje Prime

VBare Iberian Properties, the Socimi specialising in the management of residential assets, obtained a profit of €1.1 million during the first quarter of 2019, which represents an increase of 52% YoY. Gross revenues from asset rentals rose by 50% YoY during the same period to €461,000.

According to a statement issued by the company, VBare’s asset portfolio comprised more than 300 assets and was worth €57.4 million at the end of March 2019, up by 15% with respect to the end of 2018. The Socimi recorded profits of €4.8 million in 2018, doubling the result from the previous year.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Galil Capital Revises its Loss Forecast for 2019 Down to -€25M

1 April 2019 – Eje Prime

Galil Capital, the Socimi led by the Israeli businessman Gil Avraham Shwed expects to close the year with losses of €25 million. It has revised its forecasts down from losses of €46 million (-44%) after completing a €6.59 million capital increase, which will allow it to acquire new residential properties. As such, the Socimi expects to increase its rental revenues by 5% to €1.26 billion.

Galil Capital expects to add one small and one medium-sized building to its portfolio this year. At the end of June 2018, its portfolio comprised six assets and was worth €31.36 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

VBare Earned €4.8M in 2018 & Plans to Raise More Financing in 2019

5 March 2019 – Eje Prime

The Socimi VBare, which specialises in the management of residential assets, generated a profit of €4.8 million in 2018, up by 100% compared to the previous year. That increase was driven by the strong performance of its rental income and an appreciation in the value of its portfolio.

In this context, the company is going to carry out another capital increase within the coming months to finance the acquisition of more properties and further fatten up its portfolio.

The company’s revenue also increased in 2018 to €1.4 million, up by 33% compared to 2017, when the Socimi generated sales from gross rental income of €1.07 million.

At the end of 2018, VBare’s assets were worth €50 million, up by 76% YoY and the occupancy rate of its portfolio amounted to 90% at year end (vs. 83% at the end of 2017).

Looking ahead, the Socimi plans to continue focusing its investments in Madrid. Already this year, it has purchased a building containing 27 homes and two premises on Calle Vallehermoso in the Spanish capital for €5.2 million. Following that operation, the company’s portfolio contains 301 units.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Roger Arnau)

Summary/Translation: Carmel Drake

Hispania’s Profits Fell by 56% YoY in 2018 to €96.5M

28 February 2019 – Expansión

Hispania recorded a net profit of €96.5 million in 2018, down by 56% compared to a year earlier, according to the accounts filed with the CNMV by the listed real estate investment company (Socimi) controlled by Blackstone.

Revenues from rental income rose by 6.8% to amount to €151.7 million, according to the Socimi’s accounts, which were managed by Azora until August, whereas now their management is divided between HI Partners (hotels), Rivoli (offices) and Fidere (homes), all of which are linked to Blackstone. The company is expected to cease trading on the stock market on 1 April.

In September, Hispania’s new management team decided that Azora would no longer manage the three branches of the Socimi, a move that resulted in the early termination of the contract, in exchange for the payment of a penalty amounting to €224 million.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lone Star & Cerberus Increase their Commitment to Spanish Property

21 February 2019 – Expansión

The need for the banks to reduce their exposure to property and the funds’ appetite for the Spanish real estate sector have converged in recent years leading to the transfer of portfolios of debt and foreclosed assets worth millions of euros. Blackstone, Cerberus, Lone Star, the Canadian pension fund (CPPIB), Bain, Axactor and Lindorff are the funds that have been behind most of the major transactions involving portfolios of bank debt secured by real estate collateral during that period.

Emilio Portes, Director of Quantitative & Risk Management at JLL for Southern Europe, said that, following a frantic 2017 when more than €55 billion was transacted, last year saw portfolios sold with a gross value of more than €45 billion (…).

In 2018, the indisputable star was Lone Star, which took control of a portfolio worth around €12.8 billion from CaixaBank. Specifically, CaixaBank sold that portfolio along with Servihabitat to a company called Coral Homes in which Lone Star owns an 80% stake. Cerberus was also active last year with the purchase of several portfolios from Sabadell, Santander and CaixaBank with a total gross value of €12.5 billion. Behind it, came CPPIB, Axactor, D.E. Shaw and Lindorff, according to data provided by JLL.

“The sum of the transactions recorded over the last two years exceeds €100 billion, which places Spain as one of the countries with the largest transaction volume in Europe and the most liquid in terms of real transactions”, says Portes. In those portfolios, there are various types of assets, mainly residential, but also land, offices, premises and hotels.

The year ahead

During 2019, the banks will continue to divest assets, although with smaller portfolio sales. “In 2019, we expect a transaction volume of €20 billion, in addition to whatever Sareb ends up doing”, revealed Portes. He explains that most of the large Spanish banks have now reduced their NPA (non-performing asset) ratios to below 5%.

Following the activity undertaken by the large banks, all eyes are now focused on the medium and small-sized entities, particularly those with the greatest property exposure and therefore most pressure, as well as on Sareb, which has assets worth more than €35 billion still left to sell (…).

The heirs of the banks’ property, having purchased at significant discounts, have an average investment horizon of five years before they undo their positions (…)

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills: House Sales will Exceed 500,000 Again in 2019

19 February 2019 – Voz Pópuli

For the first time since 2008, more than half a million homes were sold in Spain last year, and the good performance is expected to be replicated in 2019 with forecasts that between 500,000 and 600,000 homes will be sold.

The deceleration of the Spanish economy – which will move from growing at a rate of 2.5% in 2018 to around 2% this year – is not expected to prevent the residential sector from consolidating its growth, although the maximum levels recorded in 2007, when 775,300 operations were signed in the country, is not going to be repeated.

“We do not think that we will return to those figures. Staying at the sales levels seen over the last two years, of close to 550,000 units sold, will be an excellent result”, explained Arturo Díaz, Executive Director of the residential market at the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman, speaking to Voz Pópuli.

He considers that this rate of growth is reasonable if we take into account the rate of household creation in the country, the levels of purchases for investment and the purchases for holiday homes (…).

The real estate consultancy CBRE agrees with this outlook (…). In fact, the firm is more ambitious with its forecasts as it expects 625,000 house sale operations to be closed in 2019, due to an increase in demand (…).

The growth profile

The main real estate consultancy firms all agree that there will be an increase in new build sales in 2019, in parallel to a slight decrease in the sales of second-hand homes, and so the gap between the two will begin to close.

Moreover, they confirmed that a change has taken place in terms of the profile of house buyers in Spain, with large international investors playing an increasingly greater role.

“Whilst a decade ago, demand for residential assets was dominated by domestic private families (individuals), nowadays, the market is characterised by investment vehicles, institutional funds and insurance companies – owned by foreign capital in many cases – the most active players in this segment”, said Lola Martínez Brioso, Head of Research at CBRE.

House prices in Spain rose by 8.2% in 2018, according to the Real Estate Statistics Registry from the College of Registrars, which means that they are still well below the peaks reached during the construction boom. In 2019, the sector expects the price rises to moderate (to around 4-5%) (…).

Although the price rises will be more moderate overall, there will be important differences by area (…). By region, the experts forecast that the large cities and their metropolitan areas will continue to lead the charge in terms of house price rises, specifically, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and the major municipalities in those areas.

Díaz also adds that “other large cities such as Valencia and Sevilla are starting to show a high level of activity”, along with certain holiday markets, “such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and Costa de la Luz, where the recovery in domestic demand, together with the appeal that those regions have for international buyers, is generating a high volume of purchasing activity”.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alejandra Olcese)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Galil Capital Completes a €7.9M Capital Increase

5 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Galil Capital is raising funds to continue growing its portfolio. The Socimi is going to increase its share capital by €7.9 million, compared with the figure of €8.74 million planned initially, according to a statement filed with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Once the term for the preferential subscription and discretional allocation of shares has ended, Galil explained that the share capital will be increased by €6.59 million, corresponding to 658,710 new shares and to a total disbursement of €7.9 million.

The shareholders of the Socimi, controlled by the Israeli businessman Gil Avraham Shwed, approved the capital increase of up to €8.74 million last November. With this operation, promoted just one month after it raised €4.5 million in bank loans, the company is intending to finance the purchase of new assets.

Galil Capital started life in 2015 and specialises in the investment and management of properties in Madrid and Barcelona. The Socimi is led by Jerry Mandel, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, who is the founder and owner of GC Nadlan, the company that manages the real estate firm (…).

According to the latest available information, corresponding to June, Galil Capital’s portfolio comprises six assets, all of which have residential use, worth €31.36 million (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Marta Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

General de Galerías Comerciales Buys Land in Málaga for €11.5M

9 January 2018 – Eje Prime

General de Galerías Comerciales is fattening up its portfolio. The Socimi led by the Murcian businessman Tomás Olivo has acquired several plots in the Malagan municipality of Rincón de la Victoria worth €11.5 million, according to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

This purchase, financed using own funds, comes just a month after the company completed the acquisition of El Mirador de Jinámar, the largest retail area in the Canary Islands. That transaction involved a disbursement of €45 million and was advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

General de Galerías Comerciales debuted on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in July 2017. The company has twenty years of experience and undertakes activity across the whole value chain from the purchase of land to the management of developments.

The main assets in its portfolio are retail parks and shopping centres in Spain, such as La Cañada (Málaga), Mediterráneo (Almería), Mataró Parc (Barcelona), Gran Plaza (Almería), Las Dunas and Nevada Shopping (Granada).

The company also has a large portfolio of residential assets and commercial premises, as well as land, primarily in the south of Spain. When it made its debut on the stock market, the company’s asset portfolio was worth €1.906 billion.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb’s Board Suspends the Sale of its Socimi Témpore to Launch a ‘Transparent Process’

19 December 2018 – El Independiente

The sale of Tempore Properties, the Socimi owned by the Company for the Management of Assets proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System (Sareb), was almost a done deal, but the plug has been pulled at the final hurdle. Sareb and the investment fund TPG were in the midst of closing the final details of the operation when the Board of the so-called “bad bank” decided to reject the offer. To the bewilderment of the US group, the directors of Sareb have demanded the launch of an ordered and transparent sale process, according to sources familiar with the events speaking to El Independiente.

Tempore, which has just carried out a non-monetary capital increase for €150 million and which will soon manage 3,300 real estate assets worth €325 million, received several offers at the end of November. The bid from TPG was successful over the others, but the process did not have all of the guarantees, and so the members of Sareb’s Board of Directors took the decision to block the transaction.

“It makes sense, especially taking into account the legal problems that could be generated if a government agency participates in exclusive processes”, indicated sources in the sector. “The directors have to be increasingly careful with the operations that they approve or they may incur serious faults”, added another.

In this way, the entity that it seemed was going to become the new owner of the Socimi, TPG, is the shareholder of companies such as Spotify, Airbnb, Burger King, Lenovo, Ducati and Grohe, amongst others.

Sareb, in which the State owns a 45% stake, wanted to close the operation before the end of the year and improve the appearance of its accounts, which are set to report losses, for another year. Now, however, that operation will have to wait until 2019.

The Tempore portfolio being sold by Sareb is concentrated (80%) in the metropolitan areas of Spain’s major capitals, with the remaining assets located in geographical areas with significant demand in the rental market, such as Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Málaga and Almería.

Azora is responsible for the management of the portfolio, specifically for the administration and sale of the assets. The Socimi is led by the Director of Rentals at Sareb, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña. Before joining the bad bank, Saldaña led the international team at Metrovacesa during the toughest period of the real estate crisis (…).

Several sources in the financial sector have indicated that Sareb must maximise the cleanliness of the operations that it participates in, especially after some institutions have been called out for irregular sales.

The Bank of Spain took Sareb to task over some suspicious activity following an inspection, according to a report to which El Independiente has had access.

Original story: El Independiente (by Ana Antón)

Translation: Carmel Drake