Tag: Spanish RE market

1 July 2015 – Expansión

The consultancy firm has hired Javier Hortelano to lead the new investment platform for Spain and Portugal.

Real estate consultancies are focusing their attention on Spain once more. Such is the case of Catella. The Swedish consultancy has decided to expand its commitment to the Iberian market with the creation of an investment platform through which it will channel requests from clients interested in investing in Spain and Portugal. “We are constantly evaluating expansion into new countries and the Spanish market is in recovery – turnover and investment volumes are increasing, and there is a strong inflow of foreign capital”, says Timo Nurminen, Director of Investment and Real Estate Management at Catella.

Catella has appointed Javier Hortelano (pictured above) to lead the new investment management arm. Until now Mr. Hortelano was the partner responsible for Real Estate Transactions at PwC and Chairman of the Spanish Council of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks. “This platform already exists in Finland, Denmark, Germany and for the past year, in France. It is a very attractive project, since Catella currently has €3,500 million in assets under management and Spain is known for being a key market”, says Hortelano, who will be responsible for the investment platform in Spain and Portugal. “We estimate that we will reach investment volumes of between €500 million and €1,000 million within a couple of years”, says the executive.

The majority of this investment will come from international funds, which Catella may add to, by contributing an amount to each operation. “The objective is to work with all kinds of investors: from those looking for longer-term opportunities to those seeking out short-term options, from funds that want to co-invest to those that do not.

In the first quarter of 2015, the Swedish group Catella generated revenues of around 419 million krona (€45.4 million) compared with 267 million krona last year, and made a profit after tax of 43 million krona (€4.6 million) compared with 15 million krona in 2014.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake