Axa Puts Up For Sale 8 Buildings Acquired from La Generalitat in 2013

1 May 2019 – Eje Prime

The French insurance company Axa has put up for sale 8 of the 13 office buildings that it purchased from the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2013 for €172 million.

The assets are classified as large offices located in the centre of Barcelona and may have doubled in value in the last six years. The Generalitat de Catalunya still has long-term rental contracts for all of the properties.

Axa has engaged Savills Aguirre Newman to handle the sales process.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Re-Opens the Bidding for its Renting Housing Socimi Témpore

7 March 2019 – El Confidencial

Sareb is putting up for sale the rental home Socimi that it constituted just over a year ago. Témpore, the third largest rental home firm in the country, after Blackstone (24,000 homes) and Azora (7,000 homes), owns 2,249 homes worth around €340 million. Candidates have two months to submit their binding offers.

The bad bank constituted Témpore in 2017 to provide an exit for a portfolio of homes proceeding from the bank restructuring process, and a few months later, it debuted the firm on the MAB.

The Socimi’s portfolio generated rental income of €7.3 million last year, up by 1.3% YoY, thanks to the renewal of contracts with the consequent increase in rents.

Témpore is sparking a great deal of interest amongst investors, providing further evidence of the appeal of the Spanish real estate market, especially the rental segment, for overseas investors.

Original story: El Confidencial 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Aedas, Neinor & Merlin Properties Put €1bn on the Table for Sabadell’s Land

29 January 2019 – OK Diario

Banco Sabadell has now opened the sales process for Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, its real estate developer, for which the entity expects to obtain €1 billion. To date, the entity chaired by Josep Oliu has already sent the teaser to almost 30 interested parties. But there has been an important development, and that is that it is not only the typical funds that tend to participate in these types of auctions that are interested in the company, property developers are also keen, including Neinor, Aedas and Merlin Properties.

It is worth remembering that when Sabadell decided to sell Solvia, it separated the house-sale business and the real estate development business into two different companies with the aim of achieving a better offer. The land, which is owned by the second firm, forms part of the bank’s balance sheet and that is what is now up for sale.

According to sources speaking to OK Diario, the deadline for non-binding offers will finish in March; it will be after that when Banco Sabadell will start to receive binding offers. Sources in the know indicate that the operation will be closed in the second quarter. And, moreover, in addition to the aforementioned property developers, funds such as Cerberus, De Shaw, Blackstone, Värde, Apollo and Oaktree have also received the teaser (…).

The main plots of land owned by Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios are in Madrid, Barcelona and several places along the Mediterranean Coast. The portfolio includes plots that the buyer will have to reclassify in order to be able to sell, resell or transform them, as well as plots that are ready for development. It is precisely in those assets that so many property developers have expressed their interest.

Banco Sabadell obtained a profit of €138 million from the sale of 80% of Solvia, its real estate subsidiary, to Lindorff, a company that belongs to the Intrum AB group, for €300 million. With that operation, Sabadell, which has retained ownership of the remaining 20% stake in Solvia, achieved a positive impact on its Common Equity Tier 1 (“fully loaded”) capital ratio of 15 basis points.

The completion of that operation, which is subject to obtaining the corresponding authorisations, is also scheduled for the second quarter of 2019 (…).

Original story: OK Diario (by Borja Jiménez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Invites 20 Investors to Participate in the Sale of its Socimi Témpore

20 December 2018 – El Economista

A formal process is being launched after initial interest was received from three buyers, including one that stood out from the US fund TPG.

On Tuesday, Sareb opened a formal process to sell Témpore, its rental home Socimi, according to confirmation provided by sources in the sector speaking to El Economista. The bad bank, which has not engaged an external advisor for this divestment process, has invited 20 investors to participate.

In November, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, CEO of the residential company, acknowledged that a Data Room had been enabled containing information about the Socimi and that access had been granted to it for five investors interested in the acquisition of Témpore.

In the end, three offers were received, of which the ones from Ares and TPG stood out, the latter being the highest. In light of the expressions of interest, Sareb decided to raise the matter to its Board of Directors, which yesterday launched an orderly sales process in which investors may participate by invitation only.

According to the same sources, Sareb has not imposed any conditions regarding what percentage of its stake is for sale (it held 98.38% at the end of June), and so it will be open to all offers.

The Socimi has just carried out what will be its last non-monetary capital increase subscribed by Sareb amounting to €150 million to acquire 1,769 assets in total, of which 850 are rental homes. The operation, which forms part of the right of first refusal agreement (ROFO), which Sareb and the Socimi signed, allows Témpore to double in size to reach €325 million.

Growth plan

Before announcing the sales process, Témpore had a growth plan underway with the aim of achieving a portfolio worth €500 million and in this way having sufficient volume to make its debut on the main stock market. That was explained at the time by Díaz Saldaña, who noted that in order to continue growing, “we will have to look for financing, be it from the bank or an alternative, such as a bond issue”.

Amongst the different options, the Socimi is analysing the purchase of whole buildings of rental homes and is also studying the acquisition of developments under construction that are currently in the hands of Sareb. In addition, it is considering buying turnkey projects through delegated promotion. “In the case of the latter, the first projects would be with Sareb, given that at the moment, for the other property developers that we have spoken to, it is more profitable for them to sell in the retail market”, said the CEO.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Sareb announced the sale of some land in the Torre Salses area, in Lleida, for the construction of a large shopping centre, spanning more than 60,000 m2. Eurofund Capital Partners has paid €8.3 million for that plot, whose sale was agreed in 2016.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Cuts the Cost of its Agreement with Altamira in Exchange for Paying Apollo €200M Now

10 July 2018 – El Confidencial

A new twist in the relationship between Santander and Apollo. The Spanish entity and the US fund have restructured the contract that they signed four years ago, when the former sold 85% of Altamira to the latter. As such, they have laid the foundations that will allow for the refinancing of the debt of their shared subsidiary, which specialises in real estate services.

Specifically, the new agreement involves a significant reduction in the commissions that Altamira will charge the bank, in exchange for which Santander will pay Apollo €200 million now. Moreover, a series of agreements made between the two parties means that Apollo will receive another €70 million, according to confirmation from several sources in the know.

Thanks to the cash injection that the reduction in commissions brings, Altamira has improved the conditions of its €270 million syndicated loan that it has signed with Santander, Bankinter, Bankia, Sabadell, Crédit Agricole and Mediobanca. That liability has seen its term improve by two years, to 2023, but without the repayment of the principal, given that Apollo’s aim with all of these changes (the new management contract and the new debt conditions) is to be able to distribute a juicy dividend.

Specifically, according to the sources consulted, the fund wants to take advantage of the new liquidity injection to distribute remuneration of around €200 million. In fact, Altamira’s total financial commitments, which exceed €320 million, will remain the same and will not decrease following all of this restructuring.

It was in January 2014 when Banco Santander closed the sale of 85% of Altamira to Apollo for €664 million, in an operation that included a management contract for the bank’s real estate assets until 2028. That term will be maintained following the new restructuring of the agreement.

Since then, the relationship between the two partners has gone through various phases, which have included an attempt by the bank to buy back 100% of the platform, although that deal never came to fruition for price reasons, and the acceleration made by Santander to rapidly divest all of its property (…).

One strategy, which has involved the transfer of assets to Metrovacesa and Testa, the creation of a joint vehicle with Blackstone, baptised Quasar, to provide an exit for €30 billion in toxic assets and, now, the sales process involving €5 billion in residential and tertiary assets that has been entrusted to Credit Suisse.

This operation forms part of the horizon that the bank defined last year, when it completed Quasar and announced that it was giving itself until the end of 2018 to reduce its exposure to property to an “immaterial” level, in the words of the bank’s own CEO, José Antonio Álvarez.

Nevertheless, this desire to reduce the real estate exposure to zero will have a direct impact on Altamira, given that the portfolio now up for sale accounts for the bulk of Santander’s assets, which are still managed by the servicer.

Historically, Altamira’s two main clients have been Sareb, which awarded it the contract to manage €29 billion in assets and property developer loans, and Santander, a base Apollo has been expanding by signing agreements with other entities, such as BBVA, which has entrusted it with a €200 million loan portfolio, and Bain Capital, which has engaged it to manage the €600 million portfolio that it purchased from Liberbank.

In addition, the servicer has committed to expanding internationally to grow in size, a strategy that has already seen it take over €10 billion of assets under management in Portugal and Cyprus, the first two markets into which Altamira has made the leap.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Puts €450M Rental Property Portfolio Up For Sale

27 June 2018 – Expansión

Bankia is going to start a sales process for a portfolio of rental properties with a market value of €450 million, reports Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the operation.

The entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri expects the interested groups to present their non-binding offers over the summer, so as to finalise the process with definitive offers from September onwards, indicates one of the sources.

This portfolio of rental properties forms part of the €4.9 billion in assets and loans foreclosed during the crisis that Bankia is trying to eliminate from its balance sheet.

At the end of March, Bankia had a gross exposure of around €16.6 billion on its balance sheet comprising non-performing loans and assets. The bank’s objective is to reduce its non-performing assets by around €9 billion.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hispania Puts its €603M Office Portfolio Back on the Market

27 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Hispania has resumed its plan and placed the “for sale” sign up again over its office buildings, worth €603 million. The Socimi, managed by Azora and in which George Soros holds a stake, owns 25 office buildings and one plot of land. The divestment operation was initiated in February 2017 but was suspended in October due to the socio-political situation in Cataluña at that time. Previously, in June, Hispania sold one office building in Madrid for €37.5 million.

The properties for sale span a gross leasable area (GLA) of 153,621 m2 and have an occupancy rate of 87%. The assets are mostly located in Madrid, and the rest are in Barcelona. Companies such as LaLiga, Aegon, Uría and Ilunion have their offices in Hispania’s buildings.

The company will subject the sales process of this portfolio for approval by the General Shareholders’ meeting, which has been convened for 4 April, according to a statement issued by the company to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

With this operation, which, when it closes, will result in the distribution of almost €2 in extraordinary dividends per share to each shareholder, the Socimi is going to strengthen its strategy of focusing its investments in the hotel segment, where it is the king of the Spanish real estate sector with 46 assets.

Similarly, Hispania is also starting to sell its portfolio of rental homes to individuals, a market that is currently in high demand in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Valencia Parque Central’ Hopes to Raise €300M From Sale of Buildable Public Plots

22 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Valencia’s public institutions want to recover some of the investment that they are making in Parque Central. The company that is promoting the development, which is owned by the Government of Spain (50%), the Generalitat Valenciana (25%) and the Town Hall of Valencia (25%), hope to raise €300 million from the sale of the buildable public plots in this area. Those proceeds would cover 15% of the total cost of the building work, which has an approximate cost of €2 billion.

According to explanations provided by the Town Hall, the intention of the company is to propose a first public auction of the land to the Board of Directors. The Director-General of Valencia Parque Central, Salvador Martínez, has explained that “they will study two formal questions: the specifications that regulate the sales process and the sales strategy”, according to Valencia Plaza.

The work that needs to be carried out in the Russafa and Malilla areas will bring with them the largest urban planning operation underway in Valencia. This is a railway and urban project, in which, in addition to placing the railway underground and building a new train station, the city will benefit from a new green space with a park spanning 230,000 m2. The company’s forecasts suggest that the garden will be inaugurated in June.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Considers Moving Its HQ To Madrid Due To Cataluña Crisis

7 November 2017 – El Confidencial

The historical property developer Habitat Inmobiliaria is on its way to becoming the next iconic Catalan company to abandon its region of origin in order to avoid the risks associated with the current crisis being caused by the independence challenge. The company’s shareholders, led by Capstone Equities Management, have been discussing the possible transfer of its corporate headquarters from number 458 Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona to Madrid for several weeks now; they want to reduce any risks to the sales plans being developed by its commercial network (in other parts of the country).

The company, founded in 1953, was owned by the Figueras family until November 2015, when it was taken over by Capstone and a group of funds, including Värde, in an operation that included a multi-million debt discount and in which Goldman Sachs and Bank of America also participated. The change in ownership led, in turn, to an about-turn in its management. Rafael del Valle took over the role of President and a significant part of the operations were moved to Madrid, although the registered address of Promociones Habitat, as the company is known formally, was maintained in Barcelona.

Now, the owners have initiated a sales process and the private equity firms Apollo, Oaktree and Bain are all competing in the final round, according to El Confidencial. In this context, the uncertainty generated in Catalaña could give the final push to move, however, the debate is on-going internally, which sources from the real estate company freely admit.

The problem for Habitat is not so much its exposure to the Catalan market itself, but more a question of its image in the commercial network across the rest of Spain. Of the 11 real estate developments that it currently has up for sale, only one is located in Cataluña, specifically, in Cornellà de Llobregat, called Parc de Can Mercader. The rest are located in Madrid (four developments), the Community of Valencia (four), Andalucía (three), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Portugal (one each). In other words, the problem facing the company is the opposition that its products may receive given the fact that it is a Catalan company, a phenomenon that is being seen in other sectors.

If this change of registered address comes about, Habitat will be the second large real estate company to abandon Cataluña for political reasons after the Board of Directors of Inmobiliaria Colonial also decided, on 9 October, to move from Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona to Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Víctor Romero)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Completes Sale Of Torre Puig To Grupo Puig

7 June 2017 – La Vanguardia

BBVA has completed the sale of Torre Puig, in Plaza Europa, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) to Grupo Puig, which has occupied the building in its entirety, as a tenant, since 2014. Aguirre Newman has managed the operation, which has now been signed, after it was announced on 24 April.

The building, constructed in 2014 and designed by the prestigious architect Rafael Moneo, measures 14,288 m2 and has 199 parking spaces.

A group of international investors with varying profiles participated in the sales process, including family offices – firms that manage the investments of wealthy individuals -, insurance companies and institutional funds, although in the end the best offer was made by Inmo, the real estate company owned by the Puig family, which participated in the process like any other interested investor.

“It has been a long and complex process given the characteristics involved, but in the end, we have closed the deal to everyone’s satisfaction”, said Hipólito Sánchez, Director of Investment at Aguirre Newman, in a statement. He is convinced that this will be “one of the most important operations of the year in the investment market in Barcelona”.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake