Tag: supermarket

Día Engages PwC to Handle the Sale of 300 Supermarkets

22 February 2019 – Idealista

Día is looking for solutions to cushion the impact of its business plan, which forecasts the elimination of up to 2,100 jobs, by selling off its premises. The company has engaged PwC to look for a buyer or buyers for as many stores as possible of the 300 that it plans to close this year.

Día is going to present an Employment Regulation File to the company’s unions, which has already been announced will affect a maximum of 2,100 employees, all in Spain. To minimise the redundancies, the company wants to get rid of the property that it is hoarding in a large number of locations across the country and raise all of the funds that it can.

Most of the dismissals that Día is planning will be concentrated amongst staff in the stores that are going to be closed, in such a way that, to the extent that interested parties can be found to acquire those establishments, they will try to reach an agreement with them to absorb the workforce, or at least, some of it.

Día is whereby returning to PwC after entrusting the firm with a similar task to divest its cash & carry business, Max Descuento, for which it expects to receive almost €50 million.

The Big Four firm, which is making contact with industrial companies interested in acquiring this business, will propose acquiring the stores in batches. Día expects to have closed all of its divestments by the middle of this year.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mercadona Buys 7,000m2 of Land in La Montañeta (Gran Canaria) for an Efficient Supermarket

11 January 2019 – La Provincia

The company Mercadona is going to build its second supermarket in the town of Ingenio, in La Montañeta, following the purchase of three warehouses, constructed in 1950, and a plot of land from Agrícola Bonny. The plot has a total surface area of 6,840 m2, with a current constructed surface area of 3,753 m2. It is located between Calle Juliano Bonny Gómez and Calle Sagasta (…).

Sources at the company confirmed yesterday (…) that plans for the creation of a new efficient store have recently been submitted to the Town Hall of Ingenio (…) which will be the second of its kind in Gran Canaria, after the inauguration on 17 December of the first one in the Melenara business park (Las Rubiesas), in the municipality of Telde, with a total surface area of 5,163 m2 (…).

These same sources did not reveal information regarding how much is going to be invested in the new supermarket in Ingenio, or when the construction work will begin (…).

Mercadona has 86 stores in the Canary islands and 34 in Gran Canaria.

Original story: La Provincia (by Marcos Álvarez Morice)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mercadona Buys Land in Barcelona to Open its Second Warehouse for e-Commerce

20 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Mercadona is doubling its commitment to e-commerce in Barcelona. The Valencian supermarket chain has purchased a plot of land measuring 25,668 m2 in the municipality of Ripollet, where it is going to build a logistics platform to support its online business.

This new hive, which is what the group calls this new type of asset that it is promoting, will measure 14,650 m2 and will be the second establishment that the company has launched in Barcelona, after the premises it occupied in the Zona Franca, owned by Goodman, which is expected to be operational by 2020.

In Valencia, Mercadona already has a first warehouse specialising in online commerce. It is a platform with a surface area of 13,000 m2, which was inaugurated in May. The company led by Juan Roig is already looking for new locations in other parts of the country, primarily, in Madrid.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Medcap Diversifies & Allocates €50M to Alternative Investments & Portugal

19 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Medcap is starting 2018 by making new investments and entering new markets. Diversification and alternative assets are going to be the focus of the group over the coming months, which has just invested €50 million on its entry into Portugal and the launch of a healthcare assets investment division, according to explanations provided by Dimas de Andres, the group’s CEO to Eje Prime.

One of the main operations that Medcap is going to carry out this year, as well as continuing “to keep an eye on opportunities in the prime retail sector, which is one of the fund’s main activities” is going to be the launch of two out-of-town retail parks in the Portuguese market, specifically, in Lisbon and Porto.

The company has invested €30 million in the purchase of 2 plots of land, one spanning 19,000 m2 and the other measuring 27,000 m2, for the complete development of two commercial areas, which are going to be leased in their majority to a supermarket group, according to explanations from Medcap.

Medcap Real Estate, a company owned by the De Andrés Puyol family, has also explained that it is going to back alternative investments this year. The company is currently involved in a healthcare project in the Community of Valencia. With an investment of between €15 million and €20 million, Medcap is going to construct the building with all of the needs that a healthcare operator may have, in order to put it on the market and lease it or resell it.

With these types of assets, the company is going to focus its efforts on Valencia and Cataluña. “We are not afraid to continue buying in Spain: our investments in Madrid and Barcelona are still intact”, explains the CEO of the company. “We are long-termists and we are not afraid of the political situation”, he says.

In addition to its investments, the group is also starting a divestment phase in 2018. The company has already sold the NH Murcia Hotel, located in Cartagena, and a supermarket, also located in Cartagena, for €12.5 million. “At the end of the day, divestment forms part of our business too”, say sources at the company.

MedCap, ten prime assets

At the beginning of 2015, the De Andrés Puyol family constituted Medcap Real Estate to manage its portfolio of assets, formed as a result of the contribution by Inversora del Reino de Valencia of one of its branches of activity, which included all of the urban assets leased or offered as rental properties, as well as all of the shares of the subsidiary specialising in managing operations relating to prime retail.

Medcap’s shareholders have a long history in the real estate business, with extensive experience in the search for, development of and letting of assets. Medcap focuses its activity mainly on the prime segment given the greater stability of that sector. Nevertheless, it also has a portfolio of rental properties for operation such as supermarkets in more secondary areas.

Medcap has a pipeline of assets in different stages of development or study in Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. Its most noteworthy properties include the building at number 80 Paseo de Gracia, where the luxury firm Louis Vuitton has its flagship store in the Catalan capital, as well as the Desigual megastore on Plaza Cataluña and the Apple store on Paseo de Gracia, according to the firm’s annual accounts.

In Madrid, until January, the group was the owner of the Adidas flagship store at number 21 Gran Vía (pictured above), which it sold to Triuvua; and the Louis Vuitton flagship store at number 66 Calle Serrano in Madrid, amongst others. The valuation of Medcap’s prime retail assets exceeds €475 million, according to the most recent valuation performed by the company.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mercadona Invests €80M in its Corporate HQ

26 January 2018 – Expansión

The largest supermarket chain in Spain, Mercadona, is looking forward to having new headquarters by 2021. The company chaired by Juan Roig has started work on the construction of an office complex that will house its central headquarters in Albalat dels Sorells, just over 10 km from the centre of Valencia.

The construction work of this authentic corporate city will involve an investment of €80 million to build three new properties with a surface area of 25,000 m2, as well as a large underground parking lot.

That amount does not include the price of the land, given that the plots in question have belonged to Mercadona for more than a decade when it first planned the development of this area for its future needs. In fact, the new offices will be located next to its data processing centre and a training and services centre that the company inaugurated in 2014 as a first phase, with an investment of €45 million.

The future corporate city will concentrate the activity and services that the Valencian company currently houses in its historic headquarters, an ancient building next to one of its supermarkets in the heart of the town of Tabernes Blanques and on the Fuente del Jarro de Paterna industrial estate. At the new site, the company will have the capacity to house around 1,000 workers; the construction work is scheduled to finish in 2021.

According to Mercadona, the new intelligent buildings have been designed in line with environmental criteria relating to energy efficiency, sustainability and responsible use of water. The supermarket chain expects around 150 suppliers to participate in the construction work and that around 600 people will work on the development over the next few years.

Original story: Expansión (by A.C.A)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lidl Boosts its Real Estate Business with €300M Investment

27 December 2017 – El Economista

Lidl is strengthening its commitment to the real estate sector. The German supermarket chain is planning to invest around €300 million next year (2018) buying up land and stores on/in which to open new supermarkets. Contrary to what most of the distribution sector is doing (the majority of retailers are selling their properties and leasing stores instead so as to focus on their core retail businesses), the German giant is standing firm in its commitment to the real estate recovery in Spain and so will continue investing.

With a current network of 540 stores, the idea is to own the largest possible number of stores. The average sales area amounts to around 1,500 m2, and so Lidl is looking for spaces measuring between 4,000 m2 and 9,000 m2, to allow space for warehouses and parking.

“Although we haven’t set an exact figure yet, the idea is to maintain the same rate of store openings as this year (2017), which means that we would open between 30 and 40 establishments in 2018”, explain sources at the company. Lidl arrived in Spain in 1994 and closed 2016 with a turnover of more than €3.335 billion, which represented an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous year. The company has also consolidated its position as the fifth largest operator in the sector with a market share of 4.3%, behind only Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour and Eroski, according to the latest market research published by the consultancy firm Kantar Worldpanel.

Presence at real estate fairs

Loyal to its real estate strategy, Lidl has already attended the recent exhibitions of the Barcelona Meeting Point fair to search for business opportunities. Moreover, it has decided to diversify its store opening strategy and enter, for example, traditional food markets (‘mercados de abastos’) and shopping centres.

In the case of the first, the German company has committed to opening stores in Barcelona, in the Sant Antoni and Vall d’Hebrón markets, and in Madrid, in the Tetuán market, in a strategy similar to the one being carried out by Mercadona. In the case of shopping centres, it has already opened its first store in this type of space in Islazul, in Madrid. Moreover, as well as new stores, Lidl is also making very significant investments in improving and modernising its existing stores.

Original story: El Economista (by Javier Romera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Silicius Socimi Acquires Eroski Store in San Sebastián

4 October 2017 – Press Release

Eroski and Silicius Socimi, managed by Mazabi, have signed the sale of a property owned by the supermarket chain on Plaza Arroka, 2 in San Sebastián. The establishment, which operates under the Eroski City brand, will continue its normal activity under a lease arrangement.

“The operation forms part of our business plan, which involves divesting real estate assets to focus on our retail activity”, explained the Director of Property Development and Services at Eroski, Javier España.

The retail store has a surface area of almost 2,000 m2 and is located on the ground floor of a building inside the new San Bartolomé Muinoa urban development (…).

The operation fits within the Socimi’s new growth phase. Silicius plans to invest up to €300 million in these types of assets over the coming months. Currently, the firm owns assets worth €120 million, which generate annual rental income of €6 million (…).

About Silicius

Silicius is a Socimi, managed by Mazabi, specialising in the purchase and active management of rental assets that generate stable long-term rental income for its shareholders to provide them with an annual dividend (…).

About Eroski

Eroski is the largest cooperative distribution group in Spain and is a leading player in the regions of Galicia, País Vasco, Navarra, Cataluña and the Balearic Islands. It has a commercial network of 1,784 establishments, more than 6 million customers and more than 32,000 cooperative partners and employees.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir Redesigns Fifth Tower & Delays Award of Construction Contract

20 November 2017 – Eje Prime

Grupo Villar Mir has listened to its partners and the Town Hall, and is going to redesign Torre Caleido, the fifth tower in Madrid. The skyscraper, which is going to be built next to the Cuatro Torres, will be adapted to the requests of Megaworld Corporation, its Philippine partner, and the local government led by Manuela Carmena. Amongst other features, the project is now going to include a supermarket and a cinema, as well as more lifts than initially planned, as requested by the Town Hall.

This redesign of the building will result in a delay in the award of the construction contract, which is now expected to take place during the final month of the year. Nevertheless, OHL, the construction company that forms part of Grupo Villar Mir, is currently positioned as the favourite to build the skyscraper, since to date, it has carried out the demolition and the work to prepare the land, which spans a surface area of 33,326 m2, according to El Economista.

An investment of approximately €160 million is estimated for the main construction work to build the skyscraper, out of a total projected budget of €300 million. Moreover, Torre Caleido already knows who its most important tenants are going to be, namely: IE and Quirón. The business school has acquired 50,000 m2 of the skyscraper in its move to become the first high-rise campus in Spain, whilst the healthcare group will turn its section of the building into a state-of-the-art medical centre.

On the outside, Villar Mir has redesigned the plans to include a shopping area, which will contain a supermarket and two cinema screens, an express wish of Megaworld, the company that controls 49% of the project’s capital. The tower will have 36 storeys as well as a four-floor base, which will be 20m tall.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ores Socimi Buys 4 Retail Assets In Northern Spain For €63M

4 October 2017 – Eje Prime

Ores is fattening up its portfolio of assets with some new purchases. The company, which had invested just over €60 million in the acquisition of commercial assets in Spain prior to August, has taken its chequebook out again and broken its own record. The Socimi, owned by Bankinter and the Portuguese firm Sonae Sierra, has purchased four commercial assets in the north of Spain for €63 million, according to confirmation from the company itself to Eje Prime.

Ores has acquired four hypermarkets in different parts of the north of Spain. It has purchased one commercial asset in Logroño, on Calle Rio Lomo, which is operated by Carrefour and which has a surface area of 14,912 m2. In Calahorra, Ores has bought a property operated by Eroski, located on the Logroño road, which has a surface area of 10,252 m2.

The Socimi has also carried out purchases in Tolosa and Guernica. In Guipúzcoa, the company has acquired a commercial establishment in Barrio de San Blas, measuring 4,147 m2, whilst in Guernica, it has bought a commercial asset measuring 4,348 m2 in the Txaporta neighbourhood. Both of those properties are operated by Eroski.

“With this acquisition, financed entirely using own funds, the company is continuing to fulfil the investment objectives set out in its business plan and in accordance with the financial parameters that we committed to our shareholders”, say sources at the group.

In recent months, Ores has been expanding its asset portfolio in Spain and Portugal. At the beginning of August, Ores acquired a property, which is leased to and operated by the supermarket chain Pingo Doce, located in Lisbon, Portugal. That asset has a gross leasable area of 2,200 m2 and is located in the Alta neighbourhood (…).

Ores is aimed at clients of Bankinter’s private bank segment. Although its portfolio of assets is limited, for the time being, the Socimi came to the stock market with the aim of investing €400 million in high street retail premises, supermarkets, retail parks (spanning a maximum surface area of 20,000 m2), bank branches and single assets with long-term leases and solvent tenants.

Bankinter and Sonae Sierra launched their new venture into the real estate business in record time. The two groups constituted Ores on 15 December last year, completed the process to create the vehicle and raised sufficient capital to give it a head start and debut on the stock market.

Ores was created with contributions from clients of Bankinter’s private banking segment (in other words, wealthy investors) through a capital increase amounting to €196.6 million. In this way, the private banking clients and some institutional investors control almost 86% of the company’s share capital. Meanwhile, the entity led by María Dolores Dancausa has retained a 10% stake, with Sonae Sierra holding onto just under 4% of the shares.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Nuñez I Navarro Restores Former Panrico Factory In Barcelona

25 September 2017 – Mis Naves

The former Panrico factory, the company’s distribution centre for the whole of Barcelona, is coming back to life. Núñez I Navarro has recovered the building and has restored it for industrial use.

The building is distributed over five floors: two are allocated for parking, two for industrial use and one floor for offices and a terrace. To cover logistics needs, it has two hoists, loading docks, two lifts, storerooms and 136 parking spaces. Moreover, it also offers open plan spaces with several bathrooms and changing rooms on each floor, as well as fire detectors, concrete floors and a stone floor on the second level.

The property is located in Calle Binéfar in Barcelona, in the Sant Martí district of the city, and is equipped with all of the facilities of a large conurbation: restaurants, shops, supermarkets, sports facilities and schools, as well as excellent transport connections with the rest of the city by metro (La Pau, L2 and L4) and bus (Lines 33, 36,143, B23 and H10). Moreover, the site is also accessible from the Ronda Litoral (exit 24) and is just two minutes from Rambla Prim.

Altogether, the property has a total surface area of 14,857 m2, although its distribution means that the property could be divided into two completely independent and identical buildings. As such, in the event that a smaller surface area was required, two spaces measuring around 7,500 m2 each could be created. For the Marketing Director at Núñez I Navarro, Daniel Zafra, the building “represents an excellent opportunity for companies with logistics requirements that typically find themselves outside of the urban nucleus and which can now enjoy the benefits of a city such as Barcelona”.

Original story: Mis Naves

Translation: Carmel Drake