Catella Asset Management Buys 4 Properties For €84M

3 November 2016 – Expansión

The fund manager Catella Asset Management has just completed its first transactions in Spain. In a period of just one month, the Swedish firm has carried out four investment operations to put the perfect finishing touches to its first year in the Spanish market.

Specifically, Catella AM has purchased a retail park in Vinaroz (Castellón) and three residential buildings in Madrid and Barcelona for a total investment of €84 million. “In the last month, we have closed four residential and retail operations, involving the type of assets that we are particularly focusing on”, explained Javier Hortelano, Partner-Director at Catella Asset Management for Spain and Portugal.

In the first operation, Catella has purchased two residential buildings located in Barajas (Madrid) and Rambla de Poblenou (Barcelona), containing almost 150 homes in total. “The building in Barcelona has a 97% occupancy rate and the building in Madrid has a 95% occupancy rate”. In addition, the properties have 66 and 82 parking spaces, respectively.

Subsequently, the Swedish management company acquired a third property, measuring 4,500 m2, on Calle Génova in Madrid. The building, which contains 24 homes, 29 parking spaces and a retail outlet, has an 85% occupancy rate.

The fourth operation has involved the acquisition of the Portal Mediterráneo retail park in Castellón; this purchase has been performed on behalf of a third party, the Belgian company Mitiska Reim.

Last year, the listed Swedish group Catella launched a new investment platform for the Spanish market. The group’s consultancy arm, Catella Property, has been operating in the country since 2008, and at the end of 2015, the company opened an office for its investment manager, which has now made its first purchases. “Catella AM’s approach is to invest using the funds that the management company has raised or to invest on behalf of investors with whom we usually work and who come from Europe, as well as Asia and America”, said Hortelano. The Director, who joined Catella from PwC, has extensive experience in the retail sector, having previously served as the President of the Spanish Shopping Centre Association and COO at Redevco.

Fund

The residential buildings that Catella has acquired will be placed in a pan-European investment fund called Catella Wohnen Europa, which Catella created this year. “This fund began operating six months ago and already has €250 million under management. It also has another €500 million of operations in the due diligence phase and it is planning to continue at a very intense pace next year”, said Hortelano. “It is not the typical fund that buys assets to sell them off piecemeal, rather its objective is to buy properties, and then manage and maintain them through long term lease contracts”, said Eduardo Guardiola, Partner at Catella AM Iberia.

Following the completion of these purchases, the Swedish management company hopes to be very active in Spain: “We hope to close one or two more operations this year to reach a total investment of €100 million and then exceed that figure next year”.

When it was launched, Catella AM set itself an investment target of between €500 million and €1,000 million over a couple of years in Spain and Portugal. Its purchases are focused on large tertiary assets (both shopping centres and retail parks), requiring management, as well as on residential rental properties in good locations.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

MDSR Investments Buys Travesía De Vigo Shopping Centre For €49M

3 November 2016 – Real Estate Press

The establishment, located in the city centre, has a surface area of more than 65,000 m2, of which 24,736 m2 is dedicated to retail space, according to data from the Spanish Shopping Centre Association.

Inaugurated in October 2003, the shopping centre is leased out almost in its entirety to tenants such as Carrefour, several brands from the Inditex group, including Pull & Bear and Stradivarius, as well as Corfefiel, Springfield and WomenSecret. In addition, it has an underground car park with more than 1,500 parking spaces.

This is the fifth investment that the Israeli fund has made in Spain in less than a year. In this way, in recent months, MDSR Investments has acquired the following retail parks: La Dehesa in Alcalá de Henares, Connecta in Córdoba and Puerta del Ave in Ciudad Real, as well as the Mercado de Campanar shopping, leisure and restaurant complex in Valencia.

“Our objective is to acquire more commercial assets and become a key player in the market for retail spaces in Spain within a short period of time”, said Annalaura Benedetti, Head of MDSR Investments in Spain.

Until now, the shopping centre was controlled by Meteore Alcala y Pradera, a British fund that owns 43 shopping centres and business parks across several European countries, which are worth around €2,000 million.

The real estate consultancy firm Catella has advised the vendors in the operation whilst the Pérez-Llorca has provided legal advise to the buyer. “This acquisition consolidates the appetite from institutional investors for shopping centres with a significant area of influence and first-rate tenants”, said Carlos López, Partner at Catella.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

French fund Klépierre Acquires Plenilunio For €375M

17 March 2015 – Cinco Días

The shopping centre in Madrid, which measures 70,000 square metres, is home to brands such as H&M, Primark and Media Markt.

The active market for the sale and purchase of shopping centres in Spain recorded another milestone yesterday. The French fund Klépierre announced the acquisition of the Plenilunio shopping centre in Madrid, from Orion Capital Managers for €375 million. The transaction had been in the pipeline for months and was expected to close during the first half of the year.

The Plenilunio shopping centre is located in Madrid and measures 70,000 square metres. It is home to brands such as Primark (where the Irish company has its largest store in Spain, although its flagship store on Gran Vía will take over that title when it opens later this year); Inditex, Mercadona, H&M, Mango and Media Markt.

The transaction announced yesterday is the second largest ever involving a shopping centre in Spain. The largest involved the sale of Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza. The investment fund Orion, which was also the vendor of Plenilunio, received €451 million from that sale. Through these two transactions, which have taken place within four months of each other, more than €820 million has changed hands in the sale and purchase of shopping centres. The third largest sale in Spain was also closed in 2014 involving the Marineda City shopping centre in La Coruña, which was sold for €260 million.

Plenilunio is the first large sale to be closed in 2015, after record figures were registered in the shopping centre real estate market in 2014 – total investment amounted to €2,500 million, according to data from the Spanish Shopping Centre Association (‘Asociación Española de Centros y Parques Comerciales’ or AECC). The organisation itself thinks repeating the volume recorded last year again this year will be challenging.

The sector’s trade association also highlighted the importance of contributions from overseas funds to ensuring that investment volumes in Spain are higher than their pre-crisis levels. The French firm that has acquired Pleniluno already has a presence in the country through the La Gavia and Príncipe Pío shopping centres in Madrid; Meridiano in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Maremagnum in Barcelona.

Turnover of €21 million per year

The French investment group confirmed yesterday in a statement that it expects the Plenilunio shopping centre, which had an occupancy rate of 99.3% at the end of last year, to generate annual revenues of €21 million. Its turnover increased by 15% last year. The fund said it has “plans to differentiate” the property, which (it expects) will result in improved cash flows.

Klépierre reported that it had paid the €375 million consideration using its own funds. The group ended last year with liquidity of €2,700 million. Nevertheless, according to the statement, it does not rule out (the possibility of taking out) a mortgage loan (on the property). The company estimates that it has assets in Spain valued at €1,400 million. PwC advised Klépierre on the transaction and Cushman and Wakefield advised Orion.

The French group confirmed that Plenilunio is a “dominant shopping destination” in Madrid, with more than 10.5 million visitors per year and a catchment area of 1.5 million inhabitants. Its proximity to the centre of the city, its visibility from the main arteries (roads) into and out of the city and its good public transport links are the main attractive features for the company. It said that 14,000 homes are currently being built in the area, which in general has a purchasing power than is 30% higher than the Spanish average and where 33% of the population falls into the highest income bracket.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Diego Larrouy)

Translation: Carmel Drake