Tag: Sotogrande

Millenium Acquires Plot of Land in Sotogrande for €33.2 Million

6 January 2020 – Millenium Hotels Real Estate I has acquired beachfront land, including two golf courses, in the area around Sotogrande, Cádiz, for 33.2 million euros. The asset includes a 90,000-m2 plot of land in the Hacienda de San Roque estate, along with the companies Alcaidesa Holding and Alcaidesa Golf. Between them, those firms control an urban plot of land with 50,000 m2 of land for residential and hotel use, two golf courses and a clubhouse.

The socimi intends to develop a 5-star resort with almost 400 rooms (150 in the main building and the rest in 53 villas). The new development will also have several swimming pools, a gym, spa, sports areas, meeting rooms, restaurants and two 18-hole golf courses (Alcaidesa Link and Heathland Golf).

Millenium Hotels Real Estate I ha adquirido terrenos frente al mar, incluidos dos campos de golf, en los alrededores de Sotogrande, Cádiz, por 33,2 millones de euros. El activo incluye un terreno de 90,000 m2 en la finca Hacienda de San Roque, junto con las compañías Alcaidesa Holding y Alcaidesa Golf. Entre ellas, esas empresas controlan una parcela urbana con 50,000 m2 de terreno para uso residencial y hotelero, dos campos de golf y una casa club.

La socimi tiene la intención de desarrollar un complejo de 5 estrellas con casi 400 habitaciones (150 en el edificio principal y el resto en 53 villas). El nuevo desarrollo también tendrá varias piscinas, un gimnasio, spa, áreas deportivas, salas de reuniones, restaurantes y dos campos de golf de 18 hoyos (Alcaidesa Link y Heathland Golf).

Original Story: La Vanguardia – P. R. D.

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Alantra REIM Acquires NH Sotogrande in Cádiz

8 October 2019 – Alantra has finalised the acquisition of the NH hotel in Sotogrande, Cádiz, through its subsidiary Alantra REIM.

Alantra REIM’s portfolio will now comprise three assets: the Hotel Dénia La Sella Golf Resort & Spa, the Islantilla Golf Resort (both acquired in 2018) and the NH Sotogrande. The latter hotel is a four-star unit with 96 rooms. The hotel also has other facilities such as a swimming pool and paddle tennis courts.

Original Story: El Economista – Araceli Muñoz / Rubén Esteller / Alba Brualla

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Russian Magnate Acquires San Roque Gold Club in Sotogrande

24 June 2019 – El Confidencial

Russia’s former Minister of Industry, Viktor Khristenko, has acquired the San Roque golf club in Sotogrande from the Japanese group Asahi Kanko through his company Golf Estates.  San Roque is considered one of the four preeminent courses in Cádiz, along with Valderrama, the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande and La Cañada.

Gold Estates, which already owns three gold courses in Russia, acquired the totality of the outstanding shares of Asahi Kanko SAU (AKS) , a Spanish subsidiary of the Tokyo-based golf course group. AKS currently has 40 million euros in funds and revenues of €1.5 million a year.

It has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Suite Hotels, which operates the club building and the two 18-hokle golf courses. The San Roque Club also has an equestrian centre. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Carlos Pizá de Silva. Sevilla

Translation/Summary – Richard D. Turner

Platinum Buys the Park Hyatt Site Near Sotogrande to Open its Own Hotel

25 April 2019 – El Confidencial

Platinum Estates has just completed the purchase of Finca Doña Julia, a plot spanning 40,000 m2 located in Casares, between Marbella and Sotogrande, where the Hong-Kong based fund is planning to open a 4-star hotel.

The future establishment is going to be built on the structure that the property developer Evemarina designed for Park Hyatt. Work was suspended on that project after the company filed for bankruptcy when the economic crisis hit.

The debt ended up in the hands of seven banks, which have now sold their stakes to Platinum for an undisclosed amount. The fund led in Spain by Juan Luis Segalerva has been advised by Garrigues.

The same financial institutions have also transferred another plot to Platinum next to Finca Doña Julia, measuring 11,000 m2.

All of these assets are located next to Finca Cosentín, where KKR, together with Altamar and Single Hom are going to invest €450 million in the development of exclusive villas and apartments.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Russian Group ‘Golf Estate’ Purchases the San Roque Golf Club

5 April 2019 – Europa Sur

The Russian company Golf Estate has acquired the golf course and clubhouse at The San Roque Club, located in the urbanisation of Sotogrande, in the province of Cadiz.

The company plans to make significant investments in the course, including reforming one of the two courses (the Old Course) and converting the iconic Tony Jacklin clubhouse into a boutique hotel.

Golf Estate is a golf development and marketing company and is the largest intermediary of golf operations and management in Russia.

The news of the purchase has been welcomed by the mayor of San Roque, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix (pictured above) as it means that the jobs of the golf course’s 52 employees will be guaranteed.

Original story: Europa Sur (by Alberto Rodríguez)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey España Invests €68M in Several Developments on the Costa del Sol

30 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey España is going for gold on the Costa del Sol. The Spanish subsidiary of the British real estate group, which specialises in second homes for foreigners, has invested €68 million in the launch of several residential developments along the coast of Málaga.

The company has started construction of projects such as Horizon Golf, a complex comprising 55 terraced houses in Mijas; Grandview, a complex comprising sixty lofts and apartments, also in Mijas; Green Golf, a residential development comprising 48 terraced houses in Estepona; and Pier Sotogrande, a residential complex comprising 64 apartments in Sotogrande, in Cádiz.

Taylor Wimpey España’s developments are mainly aimed at British buyers looking for second homes right by golf courses. In fact, Málaga and Cádiz account for more than 71% of all the golf courses in Andalucía, according to a report from New Trends in Golf Tourism: vision to 2020, compiled by the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Andalucía (CEA), in collaboration with the Ministry for Tourism and Sport.

Spain is still the preferred destination for Brits to buy a home, as highlighted by the UK embassy. There are around 300,000 British people in the whole of Spain and “they are still the main overseas buyers of homes, accounting for 15% of the total”, said Marc Pritchard, Director of Sales and Marketing at Taylor Wimpey España.

In the ranking of overseas nationalities who purchase homes in Spain, the British outrank the French, who account for 8.64%; the Germans (7.77%); the Belgians (6.39%); and the Swedish, who remain as historical investors, accounting for 6.38%.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

KKR, Altamar & Single Homes Launch New JV to Invest €450M in Málaga

26 October 2018 – Eje Prime

New joint venture to boost the luxury residential sector in Málaga. The funds KKR and Altamar have joined forces with the real estate company Single Homes to invest €450 million in the construction of several developments in the prime urbanisation of Finca Cortesín, located close to the Málagan town of Casares.

The plot where the residential complex is going to be built spans an area of 215 hectares and is located in the centre of the Costa del Sol, between Marbella and Sotogrande. The plan is for the joint venture to build a complex of luxury apartments and villas on this plot worth more than €200 million, according to reports from Expansión.

Single Homes is going to retain a majority stake in the company, whose long-term purpose involves launching other projects with a surface area of almost fifty hectares. The alliance with the funds will allow the real estate firm to finance and consolidate the Finca Cortesín residential complex, which already has a hotel, a golf course and two residential complexes.

The Spanish group, which has more than fifty years of experience, started to operate under the current name in 1987, following the merger of various companies. Nowadays, the company owns a portfolio of assets worth more than €450 million and land for the construction of more than 2,500 homes.

Meanwhile, with this project, KKR and Altamar are once again joining forces in Spain. In 2017, the funds teamed up with the property developer Elix to launch a Socimi specialising in the residential segment.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Real Club Valderrama’s Members Buy The Golf Course For €28M

31 October 2017 – Expansión

La Zagaleta group, headquartered in London and created by the Spaniard Enrique Pérez Flores, has reached an agreement with the members of the Real Club Valderrama to sell them the Valderrama company, owner of the famous Valderrama Golf Course, located in Sotogrande (Cádiz). The members of Real Club Valderrama will buy the golf course for €28 million, the same amount the current owners paid for the asset when they bought it. Valderrama’s members had initiated an arbitration process, but that will be suspended as a result of this agreement.

In January 2016, La Zagaleta group, owner of the urbanisation of the same name, located in Benahavía (Málaga), bought the Valderrama group for €40 million. A year and a half later, it got rid of the sports facilities, the clubhouse, several residential plots and the Valderrama Golf brands, following months of negotiations, where the club members initiated an arbitration process claiming their preferential acquisition right over the course had been forfeited.

Arbitrage

“In March, Real Club Valderrama initiated an arbitration process against La Zagaleta, on the basis that we consider that we were cheated out of our preferential acquisition right by the operation that was closed in 2015. During the course of this process, we initiated a negotiation and the resultant agreement is that the members will pay the same amount that  La Zagaleta paid to the fund MGI”, explains Javier Reviriego, Director General of Real Club Valderrama talking to Expansión. In this way, for the majority stake (94%), the club’s members (around 450 people from 40 different nationalities) will pay €28 million. “The purchase of the shares in Valderrama SA has been made for €23 million, plus debt of €5 million”, he said.

The club will finance half the operation with contributions of €30,000 per member, whilst the rest will be covered by a mortgage loan and own funds from the sports entity, founded in 1985. “We will continue investing and doing everything possible to ensure that Valderrama has the best golf facilities in the world. I also think that being the owners of the golf course strengthens our position in the sector as a private club, a unique model in Europe”, he said.

Over the last 30 years, the club’s members have operated the facilities through a rental agreement: “Being the owners of the course was a historical revindication for the members. The framework contract and lease agreement that regulated the relationship of the club with the ownership of the facilities did not grant full independence to the club’s board of directors to make decisions or establish the club’s strategic direction. There are also financial motives; the club used to pay a high rent and it is more profitable for us to invest in the asset”.

Meanwhile, following the sale, La Zagaleta will focus on the development of the Valderrama 2 urbanisation. It will be constructed on a plot spanning 220 hectares of residential use located just a stone’s throw from the luxury urbanisation in Sotogrande. There, La Zagaleta plans to build a luxury urbanisation with around 200 homes, priced between €3 million and €5 million, as well as a new golf course and hotel.

The operation in Valderrama follows the sale of other golf courses linked to urban developments, such as the purchase of Sotogrande by Orion, says Pablo Callejo, Director of Alternative Assets at the consultancy firm CBRE.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz/Lucía Junco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Buys 51% Of Popular’s RE Arm, Aliseda, For €180M

3 July 2017 – El Economista

Banco Santander is going to control 100% of the real estate arm of the recently acquired Banco Popular. The bank led by Ana Botín has repurchased 51% of Aliseda for €180 million. Since 2013, that stake had belonged to the funds Värde Partners and Kennedy Wilson.

In this way, the entity hopes that it will be able to fulfil the objective set by itsPresident Ana Botón to cut Popular’s real estate balance in half within 18 months.

With complete control over Aliseda, Santander hopes to accelerate the pace of divestment. Currently, Popular owns almost €37,000 million in non-performing assets.

In this sense, the bank also announced that it has launched a search process for partners for a portfolio containing foreclosed assets and real estate loans amounting to €30,000 million.

At the end of 2013, Popular reached an agreement to create a joint venture to manage its real estate business. The operation, worth almost €815 million, saw Popular record profits of around €710 million. The repurchase is expected to be completed during the third quarter of this year and will involve capital consumption of €302 million.

Aliseda sold 11,290 properties in 2015, with a turnover of more than €1,970 million. In 2014, it sold 8,600 properties for €1,500 million.

In fact, at the end of last year, Banco Popular considered removing these properties from its balance sheet through the creation of an independent real estate company, which would have included high-quality assets, such as its properties in Sotogrande, as well as homes in ghost neighbourhoods of Madrid. Although the CNMV was notified, the operation did not go ahead in the end.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Orion Launches €1,500M Fund & Plans Its Return To Spain

3 May 2017 – El Economista

Orion Capital has raised €1,500 million for its fifth real estate fund, which is dedicated to purchasing assets across Europe. According to sources in the sector, the Dutch fund has placed its focus on Spain, where it plans to spend some of that money. “It has not set itself a fixed objective, but Spain is a country that is very attractive”, confirm the sources.

The fund used to own a significant portfolio of assets in Spain, nevertheless, between 2014 and 2015, it completed the divestment of the last properties that it owned and maintained only its stake in Sotogrande, which it owns jointly with Cerberus.

Now, Orion wants to restore its presence in the country and to that end, it is looking for high value-added operations, including renovations and new developments. According to the sources, the fund, founded by Aref H. Lahham, Van J. Stults and Bruce C. Bossom, also wants to increase its exposure to Spanish real estate in an indirect way by acquiring stakes in companies in the sector and by purchasing debt.

Orion’s interests span almost every segment of the market. In the case of offices, the fund will concentrate its efforts in Madrid and Barcelona, looking at both refurbishments and new developments. To acquire shopping centres, it will expand its geographical range and will analyse operations in smaller cities as well. In that case, the fund will only participate in a project under development if it is in an advanced stage, where no planning is required. “Everything should be ready to build”, explain the sources, given that the manager has a team of just three people in Spain. The hotel segment is also on its radar, as well as logistics, in which “it will probably operate by constructing new spaces”.

During its previous phase of intense activity in Spain, Orion starred in several major transactions, such as the purchase of the Plenilunio shopping centre (Madrid) in 2009 for €235 million, which it then sold in 2015 for €375 million. Similarly, it completed a high-profile divestment when it exited Puerto Venecia, in Zaragoza, by selling the largest shopping centre in Spain to Intu for €451 million. Orion hopes to start buying assets in Spain once again before the end of the year.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake