Tag: Saba

Saba Buys 800 Parking Lots from Indigo for €200M

12 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Saba is expanding in Europe. The subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa, which specialises in the acquisition and management of parking lots, has acquired 800 car parks from Indigo for €200 million. The package sold comprises 169,000 parking spaces spread over several countries across the continent, including the United Kingdom and Germany.

In addition to British and German territory, Saba has also entered Slovakia and the Czech Republic with this purchase. Those four countries join the five where the company already had a presence, namely: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Andorra and Chile. In total, the company managed 210,000 parking spaces to date.

By virtue of this operation with Indigo, which is owned by the investment fund Ardian, the Spanish company has almost doubled the size of its portfolio, which will increase to 378,000 parking spaces, distributed across 1,175 parking lots, according to Expansión.

Salvador Alemany, President of Saba, has said that the purchase of this package of alternative assets “consolidates Saba’s industrial project over the long term, giving coherence to the roadmap marked by the company with the aim of making it a first-rate international player”.

In 2017, Saba recorded revenues of €213 million, with an EBITDA of €100 million and net financial debt of €330 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

La Caixa Finalises its Purchase of 49.9% of Saba for €900M

6 June 2018 – Expansión

Criteria is planning to acquire 100% of the parking lot group, which has itself closed several operations in recent months, resulting in the addition of almost 15,000 parking spaces to its portfolio.

Reorganisation between the shareholders of Saba, the parking lot group controlled by Criteria (50.1%), the industrial holding company of la Caixa, and in which Torreal (20%), KKR (18.2%) and ProA (10.5%) hold stakes, along with 3,000 minority shareholders (1.2%).

Criteria is finalising the acquisition of the remaining 49.9% that it does not yet own in Saba for €900 million, according to sources in the infrastructure sector. It remains to be seen whether this operation will be completed in time to be approved at the Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting, which is scheduled to be held next Tuesday, 12 June. The celebration of the assembly had been postponed from 9 May precisely for the purpose of signing the deal that will see Criteria take complete control over the group chaired by Salvador Alemany.

The agenda for Saba’s General Shareholders’ Meeting includes the ratification and appointment of the company’s directors. In the event that the takeover does not take place, the most feasible option would be for another General Shareholders’ Meeting to be convened, but in that case an Extraordinary one.

The price at which Saba had been valued initially amounted to around €1.4 billion for 100% of the Catalan company, based on a multiplier of around 14 times its EBITDA in 2016. Saba’s accounts for 2017 have not been published yet, pending the General Shareholders’ Meeting next week, but a slight increase is expected both in turnover and profits, boosted by the strong performance of the firm in countries such as Portugal. In 2016, the company recorded a comparable gross profit of €94 million after generating revenues of €205 million, 66% of which were recorded in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Á. Patiño, A. Zañón & C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Criteria to Make a Decision Regarding the Remaining 49% Stake in Saba on 24 May

23 May 2018 – Expansión 

Tomorrow (Thursday 24 May), the Board of Directors of Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, will make a decision regarding the future of Saba, the parking lot group of which it is a controlling shareholder, with a 51% stake. Criteria must decide whether to purchase the remaining 49% share capital currently in the hands of KKR, Torreal and ProA Capital or, by contrast, accept an offer for the purchase of 100% of the company chaired by Salvador Alemany.

According to sources close to the operation, Criteria’s position will be to emerge as the buyer, once the economic estimate of the asset has been made known, whose valuation ranges between €1.2 billion and €1.4 billion.

The investment by La Caixa’s industrial holding company will put an end to the period of uncertainty that the company has been experiencing since Torreal (20%), KKR (18.5%) and ProA (10.5%) agreed to sell their combined 49% stake in a coordinated way more than a year ago. Saba’s minority shareholders have forced this outcome. According to the shareholders’ agreements, the drag-along clause was activated in May, which means that any of the shareholders may require the sale of 100% of the company. KKR, ProA and Torreal notified La Caixa of their intention to find a buyer. According to sources consulted, Criteria has expressed its willingness to buy at the estimated prices. Several funds have also expressed their interest in Saba. As Expansión revealed in November 2017, Arcus was one of the first funds to propose an agreement. In the market, sources also point to Macquarie, which purchased Empark last year.

For Criteria, which has declined to comment, the investment in Saba would represent its first major buy-side move since it sold 10% of Gas Natural Fenosa to the fund GIP in 2016 for around €1.8 billion and following its exit this month from Abertis, after accepting the joint takeover bid presented by ACS and Atlantia. For its 18% stake in the highway group, Criteria has received more than €3 billion, which it will use to fund new investments.

The conversations have accelerated in recent weeks to the point that Saba had to postpone its General Shareholders’ Meeting. Originally, it had been convened for 9 May, but it has been postponed until 12 June pending an agreement between the shareholders.

Original story: Expansión (by C.M., M.P.L. and A.Z.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ardian Places Indigo Sale On Hold after Raising €700M in Debt

4 May 2018 – Expansión

Ardian and its partner Predica (Credit Agricole) have decided to put on hold the sale of their parking lot subsidiary Indigo, one of the giants in the European sector with significant interests in Spain. The shareholders, which have been looking at various options for their investment over the last year, have opted to re-leverage the company in the end, with a €700 million bond issue, which will be used to refinance some of the debt that expires in 2020, and also, to distribute an extraordinary dividend to shareholders.

With this move, the possible sale of the former VinciPark has been put on hold, after Ardian went off the idea of divestment in 2017 when it did not obtain satisfactory offers for the asset. According to sources close to the operation, Indigo’s shareholders were left with three options: put the “for sale” sign back up; re-leverage the company and distribute an extraordinary dividend to the shareholders; or encourage a merger agreement with other parking lot groups.

Until a few weeks ago, all three options were on the table. One of the possibilities involved exploring an alliance with the Spanish firm Saba. The parking lot group controlled by Criteria (La Caixa) is also undergoing a process of transformation after the decision was taken by its minority shareholders, which together hold a 49% stake, to exit the company. That round of contact did not prosper and Indigo decided to begin the procedure to launch a macro debt issue, which took place on 12 April.

Sources in the sector believe that a merger between Saba and Indigo would have business logic given the minimal overlap and their capacity to form a group with sufficient critical mass to explore a stock market listing. Trading on the stock market has always been the ultimate dream of Saba’s founding partners. By contrast, Ardian avoids investments in listed groups (…).

Indigo is, together with Qpark and Apcoa, the largest parking lot group in Europe. According to the latest available figures, the company recorded turnover of €897 million in 2017, with an EBITDA of €310 million. The company’s net financial debt amounts to €1.666 billion. Saba and Empark also feature in Europe’s Top 8 ranking of the largest parking lot groups, but their turnover figures are significantly lower than those of Indigo and QPark.

According to experts, another factor that would contribute to accelerating the corporate movements in the sector is the ownership structure. The giants in the sector are owned by investment funds and private equity firms with a relative dearth of long-term investors. QPark is controlled by KKR, whilst the German firm Apcoa is owned by Centerbridge. Ardian controls Indigo and Macquarie is the new owner of Empark. Saba is the only company with an industrial shareholder – Criteria – and a long-term interest (…).

Although not its largest market, Indigo conducts significant business in Spain. Revenues amounted to €41 million in 2017, with an EBITDA of almost €20 million. It is Indigo’s third largest market in Europe, after France and the United Kingdom. The outlook for Spain is positive. According to the consultancy firm DBK, revenues from the rental of parking spaces (…) in Spain and Portugal amounted to €1.145 billion in 2017, which represented an increase of 3.8% with respect to the previous year. In 2016, that figure grew by 4.5%.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saba Delays AGM by 1 Month to Finalise New Ownership Structure

3 May 2018 – Expansión

Never before has an ordinary general meeting of Saba’s shareholders raised so much expectation. The parking lot company, in which Criteria Caixa holds a 50.1% stake, has delayed the shareholders’ meeting that it had planned to hold in Barcelona on 9 May, postponing it until 12 June. The reason is that the shareholders still need to agree on the changes in their stakes in the parking lot company.

Its been a while since Torreal, which owns 20% of Saba; KKR, which holds 18.5%; and ProA, which owns 10.5%, expressed their intention of divesting their stakes in the company, a move that is logical for funds, which typically rotate their portfolios every few years.

But Criteria Caixa, which is in a position to buy, in light of the proceeds amounting to €3 billion that it is going to receive over the next few months when it sells its stake in Abertis, has initiated conversations with the other three major shareholders to take control of the company. The remaining 1.2% of the shares, which are owned by small investors, proceed from the time when Saba belonged to Abertis.

In parallel, Criteria is also planning to hold a Board Meeting at the end of this month to define the final position of its investment portfolio. Sources consulted assure that a decision will be taken at that meeting as to whether to take over complete control of the company led by Josep Martínez Vila or to sell its stake. In theory, all indicators are that Criteria Caixa will become Saba’s sole shareholder.

Finishing touches

During the extra month that they will now have, the shareholders are going to close all of the details to approve the changes in their shareholding. Meanwhile, Saba has justified the change of date in “the greater social interest and for reasons beyond its control”. Nevertheless, some parties were in favour of holding the meeting and organising another extraordinary meeting later on, once the shareholder restructuring has been agreed.

The aspects to be discussed include the distribution of a dividend amounting to €19.95 million, charged against the issue premium; the approval of the results; and, as the fifth item on the agenda, the re-election and appointment of the directors.

Criteria is going through a time of enormous liquidity due to the funds that it is going to receive when it sells the 18% stake that it holds in Abertis and because it has not participated in any large operations since it divested its 10% stake in Gas Natural Fenosa, for which it obtained €1.8 billion.

Saba, chaired by Salvador Alemany, is worth around €1.4 billion, on the basis of a multiple of between 12 and 14 times its EBITDA, which amounts to around €100 million. The company manages 195,000 parking spaces and, in 2016 – the most recent year for which data is available – it recorded revenues of €205 million (+17%) and obtained EBITDA of €94 million (+10%) (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Artur Zanón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Criteria Negotiates with Torreal, ProA & KKR to Acquire 100% of Saba

9 April 2018 – Expansión

Criteria, the controlling shareholder of Saba, with a 51% stake, is holding advanced discussions with the minority shareholders of the parking lot group to become the sole shareholder of the company. The investment by La Caixa’s industrial holding company, which could take a decision within the next few weeks, would put an end to the current period of uncertainty that the company has been subject to since Torreal (20%), KKR (18.5%) and ProA (10.5%) agreed to sell their stakes (49%) in a coordinated way more than a year ago.

For Criteria, which declined to comment on the operation, the investment in Saba would represent its first major buy-side move since it sold 10% of Gas Natural-Fenosa to the fund GIP in 2016 for around €1.8 billion and ahead of its eventual exit this year from Abertis if the joint takeover bid by ACS and Atlantia proves successful. For its 18% share in the highway group, Criteria could receive more than €3 billion to use for new investments.

Saba’s valuation ranges in multiplies of between 12x and 14x its EBITDA, which amounted to €100 million in 2017. Taking this relationship as a reference, 100% of the parking lot group chaired by Salvador Alemany would be worth €1.4 billion, including the debt.

Saba’s minority shareholders have forced this outcome. According to the shareholders’ agreements, in May a drag along clause will be activated whereby any of the shareholders may force the sale of 100% of the company. KKR, ProA and Torreal notified La Caixa of their intention to look for a buyer. According to the sources consulted, Criteria has manifested its willingness to buy at the estimated prices.

For the funds, this is an acceptable solution – given the good relationship they have with the majority shareholder – which would also give continuity in terms of the management of the company. With 100% of Saba, Criteria could tackle the subsidiary’s growth strategy with greater freedom at a time when the parking lot sector is open to new corporate movements and company consolidation. Saba will hold its Annual General Shareholders Meeting on 9 May, which Criteria and the investment funds could use to materialise the operation with the configuration of a new Board of Directors if there is a change in the shareholding. The agenda for Saba’s meeting includes the appointment and ratification of directors.

Saba recorded turnover of €205 million in 2016, up by 7%. Its EBITDA, without taking into account the effect of divestments from its logistics parks, rose by 10% to €94 million, whilst its net profit remained at €4 million, which would have been €32 million if the aforementioned exceptional operation was taken into account. The firm’s net financial debt at the end of 2016 amounted to €357 million. Two-thirds of Saba’s business is generated in Spain.

Between 2011, when it broke away from Abertis, and 2016, the company led by Josep Martínez Vila invested €545 million to expand its business perimeter to include 195,000 spaces, although it also divested its logistics assets, with the aim of focusing purely on its parking lot activity. Following the operations of Aena, Adif and the Town Hall of Barcelona, the company has barely made any significant moves, despite expressing interest in its rivals such as Empark and Vincipark, amongst others.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán, M. Ponce de León & S. Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Adif Has c. 80 Homes & Land Up For Sale Worth €10M

14 January 2018 – Cuatro

The state-owned company is taking advantage of the recovery in the sector by selling properties; and is also hanging the “for rent” sign up on around fifty other premises. 

Adif, the public company responsible for promoting and managing Spain’s railway network, has around eighty real estate assets up for sale, primarily homes and land, spread across several Spanish provinces, whose prices amount to a total of €9.8 million.

The public company, which forms part of the Ministry of Development, is whereby pushing ahead with its divestment policy of assets that are not necessary for its railway activity, to coincide with the recovery in the real estate sector.

By virtue of this strategy, Adif is selling or transferring the management of assets not affected by its core business, the construction and management of railway lines, with the objective of optimising the management of its real estate portfolio and obtaining additional resources to continue investing in the railway network.

Within the framework of this policy, the company chaired by Juan Bravo has also put 56 commercial premises up for rent. The properties are located in a total of 16 provinces, according to data from the company compiled by Europa Press.

In terms of the homes up “for sale”, they are assets that were left unselected in previous auctions. The flats are located in towns or capitals of thirteen provinces and their sales prices range between €16,000 for a home in Venta de Baños (Palencia) and €131,000 for another home located in Jérez de la Frontera (Cádiz).

Nevertheless, the assets that Adif is looking to sell include several noteworthy plots of land, specifically, six in Madrid and one in Leganés.

Plots in Madrid, the jewel in the crown

The latter is the most extensive, given that it is an urban plot measuring 3,608 m2, with a maximum buildability of 5,232.26 m2. It has been put up for sale for €2.14 million.

Other assets include homes in Jérez de Frontera, measuring between 72 m2 and 99 m2, with two or three bedrooms and a parking space, with prices of between €90,000 and €131,000, as well as several commercial premises in Valencia capital.

The rest of the homes for sale, which are either new or in need of work, are located in the provinces of A Coruña, Ávila, Ciudad Real, León, Ourense, Palencia, Salamanca, Tarragona, Valladolid and Zaragoza.

Adif is adding this new round of divestments to those undertaken in previous years. In the real estate sphere, at the end of 2014, it sold a plot of land on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid through a public auction. That site was awarded to El Corte Inglés for €136 million and is located right next to the retailer’s largest store in the country.

Two years later, the real estate company Vía Célere purchased a plot from Adif, and also from Repsol, which those two companies jointly owned in the Méndez Álvaro area of the capital for €29.1 million.

Beyond this sector, a few years ago, Adif granted concessions for the management of the parking lots in its train stations and of its fibre optic network, one of the largest in the country. The first was awarded to Saba and the second to REE.

Original story: Cuatro

Translation: Carmel Drake

Torreal, KKR & ProA May Force La Caixa To Sell 100% Of Saba

10 November 2017 – Expansión

The European parking lot market is at boiling point. Following the sale of Empark earlier this year to the Australian fund Macquarie, now comes the turn of Saba, the other Spanish leader in the sector, controlled by Criteria (La Caixa). According to financial sources consulted, the firms KKR, Torreal and ProA, which together own 49% of the company, have resumed the plan to sell their shares. Unlike in previous processes, on this occasion, the conversations with investors revolve around the sale of 100% of the company, given that, by agreement between the shareholders, they may force La Caixa to sell its controlling 50.1% stake.

According to preliminary estimates, the valuation of the company could reach €1,150 million. Until last December, the company’s financial debt amounted to €545 million. Sources at Saba declined to comment on the news.

The parking lot group closed 2016 with turnover of €222 million, compared to €225 million in 2015, when its revenues still reflected income from its logistics parks. The company, a spin-off of Abertis, constituted in 2011, obtained an EBITDA of €103 million and earned €4 million from its ordinary activity in 2016 (€32 million with the gains from the sale of its logistics business to the Socimi Merlin).

Two hundred thousand parking spaces

The group manages 195,000 parking spaces across Spain, Chile, Portugal and Italy and employs 1,400 people. Its last major operation was the contract it won in 2014, with a bid amounting to €234 million, to manage the parking lots in Barcelona through a joint venture with the city’s Town Hall.

Potential buyers for Saba include the large investment funds that specialise in infrastructures. Sources in the market say that the investment firm Arcus, which manages a portfolio of assets worth €17,000 million, is looking at this opportunity. KKR, Saba’s third-largest shareholder, purchased the parking lots of the Dutch firm Q-Park earlier this year for almost €3,000 million. Meanwhile, Ardian and Predica also put the French market leader Indigo up for sale this year; that company has strong interests in Spain and is worth around €3,000 million.

There have been other smaller transactions in Spain, such as the agreement signed by Oak Hill to acquire Isolux’s best parking lots and the sale of Parkia to First State for €300 million.

Saba, which is chaired by Salvador Alemany, suffered a major setback this summer after losing the bid for Empark. The parking lot group, whose vocation since its constitution has been to make its debut on the stock market, had wanted to absorb Empark to acquire critical mass for its stock market debut. But its offer was lower than the one presented by the Australians, which, according to the market, bid around €900 million.

Following that setback, the minority shareholders have reactivated the sales plan. Specifically, the shareholders’ agreement lapses in November and the funds have a drag along clause to force the other shareholders to sell. The timeframe for looking for interested investors runs until May 2018 and if Criteria does not want to sell, then it has the right of first refusal to buy the shares that it does not control at the same price agreed with the investor (…).

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán, I. Abril and M. Ponce de León)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saba Wants To Complete A Major Purchase Before Its IPO

1 June 2017 – Expansión

Saba is analysing several major operations with the aim of growing in size before it debuts on the stock market, according to the plans that the company’s President, Salvador Alemany (pictured above, right) outlined yesterday, at the car park group’s General Shareholders’ Meeting.

“We are looking at operations that would allow us to grow significantly and which would take several months or years to complete; afterwards [with our debut on the stock market], we would see the results of all of the efforts that we have been making since 2011”, said Alemany yesterday, in response to two questions from the company’s two minority shareholders. For the time being, there is no specific timetable for the firm’s debut on the stock market – Saba set itself the objective at the same time that it was carved out from Abertis in 2011.

The CEO of Saba, Josep Martínez Vila (pictured above, left), confirmed that Empark is one of the operations under analysis, but that there are also others in the running. The advantage of acquiring that firm stems from the fact that it would allow Saba to double in size; by contrast, it would mean concentrating its business even more in Spain, which last year accounted for 71% of its turnover.

The group closed 2016 with turnover of €202 million, compared to €225 million in 2015, a year when it was still recording revenues from its logistics parks. Saba, which yesterday approved the distribution of an issue premium amounting to €20 million, earned €4 million from its ordinary activity, a figure that increases to €32.36 million with the profits from its logistics business.

The company, which was just awarded the contract to manage 12,000 parking spaces in three shopping centres in Chile, has also just agreed with the banks to improve the conditions of a €465 million loan.

Original story: Expansión (by A. Zanon)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saba Sells Its Logistics Parks To Merlin For €115M

18 October 2016 – Real Estate Press

Saba has completed the sale of its Saba Parques Logísticos division, the company that owns shares in five logistics parks, to Merlin Properties for €115 million.

The following assets are included in the operation: Cim Vallès (Barcelona) and Lisboa Norte in Portugal, as well as stakes in the Zona Franca Logistics Park (Barcelona), Sevisur (ZAL Puerto de Sevilla) and Arasur (Álava).

With this sale, Saba closes a phase of four successive divestment operations to generate €300 million in own funds, through which it seeks to maximise the value of its car park business line.

On the other hand, Saba has awarded the contract for the management of the car parks at the largest aerodrome in Chile, the Arturo Merino Benítex Airport, located to the west of the city of Santiago.

The contract signed with Nuevo Pudahuel, the airport’s concession company, involves the management of 4,500 parking spaces spread across three locations for a three year period.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake