Redevco And Ares Unite To Invest 500 Million In Spain

10 September 2015 – Expansión

The US fund Ares Management and the Dutch real estate Redevco have decided to join forces for investing in the Iberian Peninsula. The two companies have created a joint venture with 500 million euros of capital to buy assets in Spain and Portugal, mainly shopping centers and malls, the type of properties currently most in demand among international investors.

In fact, the new company, called Redevco Iberian Ventures, will start with the six centers and malls shared by the real estate company and the US fund. It is expected that the other 390 million will be invested in the coming months.

At present, Redevco owns 21 commercial assets in Spain, scattered over Oviedo, San Sebastian, Malaga, Bilbao, A Coruña, Madrid, Valencia and the Canaries. Furthermore, it has three establishments in Lisbon, Oporto and Braga, Portugal. Redevco will take up the property management of the joint venture.

“We wanted to form partnerships with investors who have an attitude very similar to ours, who share our values and investment goals, and Ares Management is an ideal partner in this sense,” said Andrew Vaughan yesterday, CEO of Redevco.

Management

Redevco’s new partner has an international portfolio valued at 88 billion, including real estate assets and debt. Last year, it played a leading part in a large divestment operation in Spain selling, along with Deutsche Bank and Banca March, the TREE Inversiones company, owner of 880 branch offices and five BBVA office buildings, to the Socimi Merlin Properties.

“We think that the size of an investment platform like Ares and the experience of Redevco in commercial property investment will make the new company well positioned when it comes to access to the opportunities that generate added value in these recovering markets,” said Bill Benjamin, real estate manager of Ares Group in Europe. In the first six months of 2015, the real estate investment in Spain has soared by 51% reaching 5,264 billion, with operations among which are the sales of several commercial centers, such as 50% of Puerto Venecia, by the Canadian pension fund; or Plenilunio in Madrid, bought by Klépierre for 375 million.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Lee La

Riofisa In Talks With Creditors On €400 Mn Debt

12/01/2014 – Expansion

The shopping mall king Riofisa has filed for pre-arrangements with creditors as its debt reached €400 million.

The company, formerly belonging to Asentia – the old ‘bad bank’ of Colonial – is presently controlled by Eneas and Mainspring.

Riofisa has four months to negotiate with the lenders and agree upon a payment scheme. Currently, the group owns the Plaza de Armas (Sevilla), the Vialia (Salamanca) and the Aqua Magica (Palma de Mallorca) retail parks. The last is found under construction (the project pictured).

 

Original story: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

Inditex Invests €238 Mn in a Building in New York’s SoHo

9/01/2015 – Expansion

Inditex gains ground in New York. The Spanish multinational clothing group has sealed a deal on a property located in the heart of SoHo, one of the best-known shopping heavens on the globe. It agreed to pay $280 million, or €238 million, for the new, 4.400 square meter retail space.

The property is set to become one of the flagship stores of Zara. Found at 503-511 Broadway Avenue, the building appears as one of the most representative among the 19th century commercial architecture of Manhattan.

Despite the purchase, Inditex still clings to lease and bets on “expansion based on integrated model of flagship shops and online sales”.

The group’s chairman Pablo Isla has highlighted that the opening of a new Zara in New York in 2015 will be a new hit in the process of growth in the United States, a market which is “very important” for the clothing retailer.

The property forms a part of a building erected in 1878 by architect John B. Snook within the Cast-Iron District.

This is not the only opening that Inditex scheduled in its Manhattan investments agenda. The group is going to open another flagship store in the World Trade Center in the financial district (222 Broadway), disposing of over 2.800 square meters of retail space.

Likewise, the spring will see the Fifth Avenue expanded shop re-opening. By 50% bigger, the store will occupy 4.000 sq m, Inditex informed.

In the territory of the United States, Inditex plans to open more than a dozen of establishments this year, in such cities as New Jersey, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle and in Puerto Rico.

 

Original story: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

Tycoon Costco Gets the Green Light For a Store in Getafe (Madrid), 500 Jobs Guaranteed

8/01/2014 – Expansion

The City Council of Getafe has given the authorisation for construction of a shop and a central premises to giant Costco, the second-largest distribution group of the United States and ranking the seventh in the world. This store would be the next to open in Spain, as the warehouse club already has one in Seville.

Costco is going to settle down in the Los Gavilanes industrial area, Getafe, and its plan foresees hiring 420 people for the warehouse store, and one hundred more for its headquarters.

The distribution group will occupy a space of  around 15.891 square meters, of which almost 14.000 sq m will be intended for the retail space, whereas the remaining 2.000 sq m for the Spanish headquarters. In addition, Costco will open a workshop and a café.

Trading on the Nasdaq stock market, Costco employs 161.300 workers worldwide, it has 622 establishments and earns €76.8 billion annually.

 

Original story: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

Neinver & TH Real Estate to Invest in Outlets Across Europe

8/01/2014 – Expansion

Spanish group Neinver specialized in shopping mall management has established a joint venture with U.S. TH Real Estate with view to investing in the ‘outlet’ type of retail centers scattered around the Old Continent, the companies announced.

The long-term partnership assumes joint purchases in the future, as well as taking advantage of a 50% share in the Roppenheim The Style Outlets in France, a mall constructed 3 years ago and recently acquired by the joint venture. It also plans to buy two shopping centers in Poland: the Factory Warsaw Annopol and the Futura Park Krakow.

Likewise, development of the Viladecans The Style Outlets project (Barcelona) of Neinver is expected to be brought to an end.

Neinver owns 15 outlet centers in Spain and has over 311.000 square meters under management on behalf of brands The Style Outlets and Factory, as well as 7 conventional malls. TH Real Estate is an investment management firm specialized in real estate equity and debt investment held by TIAA-CREF (a 60% share) and Henderson Global Investors (40%).

 

Original story: Expansión (after EFE)

Translation: AURA REE

British Real Estate Company Pays 451 Million For Spain’s Largest Shopping Mall

26/12/2014 – lainformacion.com

The British property group, Intu Properties, has struck a deal with the Orion European Real Estate fund to acquire the Puerto Venecia complex in Zaragoza, the largest shopping mall in Spain, for €451 million.

The acquisition of Puerto Venecia mall by Britain’s Intu follows the group’s purchase of the Parque Principado shopping mall in Oviedo last year.

Puerto Venecia has a retail park of 82,600 square meters which opened in 2008, as well as a leisure and fashion area of 130,000 square meters which opened back in October 2012.

The Orion European Real Estate III fund had a 50% stake in the shopping mall since it was built and launched in 2008, and last year British Land acquired the remaining 50% for €144.5 million.

Rental income from Puerto Venecia shopping mall, which houses stores such as El Corte Inglés, H&M and Apple, is estimated at €22.4 million, according to Intu Properties, which estimates a net initial return of 5%.

“The transaction substantially accelerates our activities in Spain, which is a country where we see major opportunities for the type of genuinely regional destination center in which the Group specializes,” commented David Fischel, the CEO of Intu.

In this sense, Finchel highlighted that Puerto Venecia offers an attractive combination of shopping, dining and entertainment experiences, emphasizing that the mall is recording a strong growth in retail sales and provides an “excellent template” for the future development of sites “such as in Malaga,” where the British company expects to make significant progress in 2015.

Original article: lainformacion.com

Translation: Aura REE

Lar Purchases An Office Building In Madrid For €12.7 Million

24/12/2014 – Expansión

The REIT, Lar Spain Real Estate, has closed the sale with the company, Bernal Brothers Pareja, of an office building located in the center of Madrid, on Calle de Eloy Gonzalo, number 27, for a total of €12.73 million.

Built in the 1960s’, the building boasts 6,232 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) across nine stories, as indicated by Grupo Lar’s listed real estate investment company to Spain’s National Securities Market Commision (CNMV).

The first seven floors, which are currently being used as offices, can be converted for residential use, while the entire ground floor and basement, which represent 23% of the total leasable area with 715 square meters per floor, are leased exclusively as commercial premises.

Currently, the building — just one kilometer away from the Paseo de la Castellana and within the M-30 — has an occupancy rate exceeding 95%.

As pointed out by the director of the company, Miguel Pereda, the acquisition of the building is a strategic investment opportunity for Lar Spain Real Estate, as the property has a large potential for improvement in terms of management as well as overall revenue and capital value.

With this operation, the REIT has invested €330.900 million of the €400 million it raised in the IPO, of which 176.8 million were allocated to five malls; 90.9 million to four office buildings in Madrid; 44.9 million to eight logistics warehouses in Guadalajara; and 18.3 million to three medium-sized shopping centers in Madrid and Cantabria.

Original article: Expansión (by EFE)

Translation: Aura REE

Grupo Lar Invests €11.5 Million In A Shopping Center

23/12/2014 – Expansión

Lar España Real Estate Socimi, listed real estate investment company of Grupo Lar, has acquired a hypermarket and two locations in the Albacenter Shopping Center in Albacete, for €11.5 million, said the company yesterday to the Spanish Securities & Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The shopping mall was acquired by Lar in July 2014, thereby strengthening the company’s position as a market leader.

Assets acquired by the company, Joparny, have a gross leasable area of 12,486 square meters and currently have tenants such as Eroski, Primark and Orchestra, reports Europa Press.

Investments

With this operation, the REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) which is managed by Grupo Lar, has already invested €318.1 million of the €400 million raised in the IPO, of which €176.8 million were allocated to five shopping centers in the Basque Country, Palencia, Albacete, Barcelona and Alicante; €78.1 million to three office buildings in Madrid; €44.9 million to eight logistic warehouses in Guadalajara; and €18.3 million to three medium-sized shopping centers in Madrid and Cantabria.

The REIT, which debuted on the stock exchange on March 5, acquired €1.4 million through September, with a negative EBITDA of €524,000 due to operating costs for its implementation and acquisition of assets.

Original article: Expansión

Translation: Aura REE

Unibail, Klépierre, TH Vie For Plenilunio Retail Park

17/12/2014 – Expansion

The sale of the Plenilunio shopping mall in Madrid has entered in the final stretch. After a month of considering bids, U.S. fund Orion gave priority to three offers.

The establishment invoked vivid interest among large funds looking to buy a piece of the Spanish real estate for themselves. Finally, the winner will be chosen from among three finalists: fund manager Tiaa Henderson (TH), French-Dutch giant Unibail Rodamco and the Klépierre group. The last one closed jointly 127 retail units in Spain, France and Italy at the end of 2013.

Each of the bids is said to oscillate around 330 million euros.

The three-storey shopping center has a 220.000 square meter area, including a 70.000 sqm gross lettable space (GLA). Moreover, the deal includes more than 2.500 parking spaces, of which 2.000 are found underground. According to sources from the industry, 200 shops inside the establishment are 98% occupied.

The sale of the Plenilunio will be the deal of the year, beating the current top 3 transactions: 260 million euros paid for the Marineda mall in La Coruña by Merlin Properties, the 232 million amount which TH put for the Islazul retail park in Madrid and the volume of 153 million transferred for the Boulevard, Vitoria, by ING.

Orion’s goal is to close the operation before the year ends but the chances are the process will be prolonged until the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Currently, the U.S. fund manages the unit through Orion Columba, prepared to become listed as a Socimi (Spanish counterpart of a REIT vehicle).

As Deloitte Real Estate reported, in the eleven months from January to November, almost 30 shopping centers have changed hands, involving a total amount of nearly 1.63 billion euros.

Opened in 2006, the Plenilunio was developed by Riofisa (later on bought out by Colonial). In September 2005, it was purchased by Banco Santander for 275 million euros. In 2009, the bank sold the property to Orion for 235 million euros.

In spite of the disposal of the Plenilunio, Orion still owns the Puerto Venecia, Zaragoza, Spain’s biggest shopping mall. Originally shared fifty-fifty with British Land, the fund bought its partner’s share in October 2013 for 144.5 million euros.

 

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Sonae Sierra Disposes of 26.600 SQM GLA in Spain

15/12/2014 – Mis Locales

Taking into account the 138 retail units the firm owns on the Spanish territory, Sonae Sierra has got a 26.600 square meter gross lettable area (GLA) under management.

Precisely, Sonae Sierra has been progressively adding units to its portfolio from January to November, until reaching the number of 138 shopping centers today.

 

Original story: Mis Locales 

Translation: AURA REE