Tag: surface area

UBS Pays Hines €70M For Zielo Shopping Centre

5 June 2015 – Expansión

The transaction confirms the return of institutional investors to the Spanish market.

International funds are continuing with their commitments in Spain. Whilst the key players in the market were opportunistic funds in 2013 and Socimis in 2014, in recent months, institutional funds, both European and Asian, have burst into the market.

The latest player to make an investment in Spain has been UBS. The Swiss fund management has finalised the purchase of the Zielo Shopping centre, in Pozuelo (Madrid), after several weeks of exclusive negotiations. UBS will pay €70 million for the property to Hines European Value Added Fund, a fund managed by the property developer Hines.

The company invested €100 million in the development of the shopping centre, designed at the height of the property boom, including a loan for €50 million. The property was opened in October 2009 and has a surface area of 50,000 m2, of which 15,555 m2 comprise the retail area.

In the transaction, UBS has been advised by the consultancy firm Knight Frank, whilst CBRE, which also manages the centre, has worked with the vendor. “This transaction shows that prime assets are generating significant interest amongst investors with a more core profile”, explains Gonzalo Senra, Head of Commercial Investments at CBRE.

In 2014, more than €2,000 million was invested in commercial property in Spain, a figure that may be exceeded this year, according to Knight Frank, given that €600 million has already been invested.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial To Construct New Office Block Next To Castellana

29 May 2015 – Expansión

The real estate company Colonial has purchased a property on Calle Estébanez Calderón in Madrid, just a stone’s throw from the Paseo de la Castellana. It will demolish the building and construct a new office block in its place. The total investment will amount to €40 million.

The future corporate tower will cover an area of 15,000 square metres above ground and will be exclusively devoted to offices that will be rented out.

Given the scarcity of prime products for sale and the significant pressure from the international market to purchase this kind of product in Madrid and Barcelona, Colonial has decided to build its own property. The company chaired by Juan José Brugera specialises in office buildings in the centres of Madrid, Barcelona and Paris and its assets amount to €6,000 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

MoD Sells A Plot Of Land In Mallorca For €5.5M

27 May 2015 – Expansión

The Ministry of Defence is continuing its real estate divestment plan to generate revenue. To this end, the body chaired by Pedro Morenés has closed the sale of a plot of land measuring 14,429 square metres, with more than 25,000 square metres of buildable area, in Cas Capiscol (Mallorca).

Given that the building is owned by the Administration, the Ministry of Defence organised a public auction, through the real estate portal addmeet. The plot of land that is up for sale houses former (army) barracks, spread over several buildings, which have been in disuse since the 1990s.

The Ministry of Defence put this land on the market for €5.318 million. In the end, it has been sold for a slightly higher price: €5.55 million. The winning bid was submitted by a subsidiary of the Catalan real estate company La Llave de Oro. The buildable plot measuring 25,131 square metres may be used for tertiary purposes, i.e. to build offices, hotels and retail buildings. Nevertheless, the general urban development plan where this land is located is currently in the process of being modified.

The Ministry of Defence also own other plots of land in Mallorca, including in Son Busquets, where it has a plot measuring more than 110,000 square metres.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Blackstone Buys 1 Shopping Centre In León And 2 In Lisbon

13 May 2015 – El Economista

The US fund Blackstone is keeping its eyes fixed on the Iberian Peninsula. This was evidenced yesterday by the announcement that it had acquired three shopping centres in Spain and Portugal.

Specifically, it has purchased Espacio León (located in the province of the same name), which has a leasable surface area of 37,000 square meters. This transaction was closed through the purchase of CG Malls Europe’s shares in that shopping centre.

The other two are Almada Forum, which has a leasable surface area of 59,000 square metres and Forum Montijo with 42,000 square metres, which are both located in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Through this transaction, the US fund has acquired leasable surface area of more than 138,000 square metres.

The properties will be managed by Multi Corporation, a company that Blackstone bought two years ago, which specialises in the management of real estate assets. Multi is currently the owner and manager of 25 real estate assets in Spain and Portugal.

As such, Blackstone is continuing to consolidate its position in the Iberian market. The US fund has made several purchases in the Portuguese territory in recent months.

Last December, the company acquired part of a portfolio from Novo Banco’s fund manager for €220 million, which became the latest real estate transaction of the year (in Portugal).

Two months ago, Blackstone also acquired Alverca Park (also in Portugal), which covers more than 60,000 square metres and contains offices and retail space.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Puts Property Worth €4,800M Up For Sale

6 May 2015 – Expansión

Project Big Bang / The financial entity has put a batch of homes, land and commercial buildings up for sale, with the objective of disposing of all of the foreclosed assets left on its balance sheet.

Bankia has decided to accelerate the process to divest its real estate assets with a ‘macro-transaction’ involving a large block sale. The financial institution has launched so-called Project Big Bang, which includes a portfolio of residential and commercial assets (including offices and shops), as well as land, worth €4,800 million.

The transaction is still in its very early stages, involving initial meetings with investors, but it will represent the largest asset sale process seen to date (excluding transfers of debt with real estate collateral).

The properties up for sale include assets that Bankia did not transfer to Sareb following its nationalisation, as well as foreclosed assets resulting from subsequent defaulted payments. Most of the portfolio corresponds to residential assets. Thus, of the €4,800 million assets that Bankia has included in the batch, €3,300 million related to residential properties at 31 March 2015. In total, the bank will transfer 38,545 residential units (flats, chalets, parking spaces and storage rooms), with a total constructed surface area of 3.6 million square metres.

Along with the €3,300 million of residential assets, Bankia is selling 4,938 commercial units worth €1,100 million.

Land at zero cost

The portfolio also includes 2,589 plots of land with a total surface area of 4.6 million square metres. This land has a value of zero, according to Bankia, having been fully provisioned.

The sale is being coordinated by Credit Suisse and KPMG. The transaction may be closed as a single deal or through the sale of several blocks. The sale value may also decrease from €4,800 million to a smaller amount, say sources close to the process.

Many of the large funds, including Blackstone, Lone Star and Apollo, have already expressed their interest in the portfolio. These investors will have to compete with Cerberus, which has a preferential right to examine Bankia’s real estate portfolio. This “preferential” arrangement forms part of the negotiations that the US fund has held with the Spanish entity in recent years. In 2014, Bankia transferred its Bankia Habitat business unit to Cerberus for a consideration of between €40 million and €90 million, together with the 400 professionals who work for the platform.

Last September, Cerberus joined forces with the Norwegian fund Lindorff to acquire some of the doubtful and substandard loans, plus those that had doubtful or substandard outlooks, worth €900 million, which the entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri (pictured above) was selling, as part of the Somo transaction. In February, Bankia launched a campaign to accelerate the sale of its remaining properties.

The clean up

Project Big Bang represents the largest divestment initiated by Bankia to date in the foreclosed asset and doubtful debt segment. The entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri has been one of the most active in this market, having transferred almost 80 portfolios containing problematic loans since 2013, with a nominal value of €10,000 million.

Initially, Bankia undertook these types of transactions due to necessity, since the restructuring plan agreed with Brussels compelled it to divest non-strategic assets amounting to €50,000 million.

Although it has now almost completed this plan, the entity has decided to ‘step on the divestment accelerator’ in 2015 in order to reduce its default rate and focus its resources on new productive assets that improve its financial results. As well as the foreclosed assets, Bankia is also currently negotiating the sale of problematic mortgages, property developer loans and hotel debt.

If it closes all of these transactions, the nationalised group would become the first entity to withdraw from the segments considered by the market as a burden to the sector.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz and J. Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mutua Owns Prime RE Assets Worth €1,200M

9 April 2015 – Expansión

The real estate subsidiary of the insurance company owns more than twenty assets, including 15 (properties) on the Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid’s prime (real estate) axis.

Mutua Madrileña is not only one of the largest insurance companies in the Spanish market, it is also one of the largest owners of office buildings. Through its real estate subsidiary, led by Emilio Colomina, Mutua manages a portfolio of more than twenty real estate assets, with a (combined) surface area of around 200,000 square metres.

Fifteen of the buildings in the portfolio are particularly noteworthy; they have a (combined) surface area of approximately 175,000 square metres and include several properties located on the prime axis (the most sought after area) of Madrid. Mutua Inmobiliaria owns numbers 31, 36, 50 and 110 on the capital’s main thoroughfare, the Paseo de la Castellana, as well as the Torre de Cristal, located in the Cuatro Torres complex, at number 259.

And just a stone’s throw away from La Castellana, in the heart of the capital’s financial district, the company also owns the Alfredo Mahou building (pictured), which has a surface area of around 24,000 square metres; as well as the Torres de Colón.

At the end of 2014, these fifteen buildings had an appraisal value of €1,200 million, representing a slight increase on the previous year, with unrealised gains of €356 million.

In 2014, the real estate company recorded turnover of €46.8 million from rental payments, and (its buildings) had an occupancy rate of 90%, i.e. 2% higher than last year.

“The favourable development of Mutua Inmobiliaria’s business is due, to a large extent, to the investment plan that the company launched in 2008 and completed in 2014. As a result, the company modernised its (portfolio of) buildings”, explains the insurance company.

During this period, Mutua invested around €150 million in upgrading (its buildings, including) the Torres de Colón, for example – work there began in late 2011 and involved a budget of around €25 million. “The investments made have allowed us to build loyalty and retain customers, sign new rental contracts, at maximum prices, and reduce operating costs, which has increased the attractiveness and efficiency of our properties”, says Colomina.

The new (rental) contracts include: the move of the law firm Hogan Lovells to Castellana 36-38 late last year, where it leases 4,608 square metres, and KPMG’s upcoming move to Mutua’s skyscraper in the Cuatro Torres, which has a surface area of 20,000 square metres.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eroski To Resume Expansion And Open 100 Supermarkets Per Year

20 February 2015 – Deia

The supermarket chain will invest €400 million over 4 years.

The retail distribution group Eroski (….) is planning to open one hundred new supermarkets per year – primarily in the north of the Iberian Peninsular – over the next four years. During this period, the Basque group, chaired by Agustín Markaide, expects to invest around €400 million, according to the strategic plan presented by the cooperative group to its shareholders yesterday in an extraordinary shareholders meeting held at the BEC in Barakaldo.

The Chairman of Eroski presented the proposed updates to the Strategic Plan 2013-2016 to the 500 shareholders present, once the definitive agreement for the refinancing of its bank debt has been agreed and stated that “it is time to look to the future, to progress more quickly with the expansion of our new ‘Contigo’ or ‘With you’ campaign and to recover investments to strengthen our most strategic businesses to create a new, more profitable Eroski”.

This more competitive Eroski has focused on its traditional markets in Euskadi, Galicia, Cataluña and the Balearic Islands, as well as in its respective hinterlands. It has also promoted the formula of franchised stores to recover market share lost as a result of the divestments that it has been forced to undertake in Spain to finance its debt payments.

One of Eroski’s key commitments in this new phase is that of extending its ‘Contigo’ commercial model to more than 200 stores under the second part of its Strategic Plan 2013-2016, by opening and refurbishing premises. According to Eroski executives, the reason for this approach is the success that has been obtained through the ‘Contigo’ campaign in all of the locations in which it has been implemented. It currently operates in 66 stores and its results show “a very positive response from consumers, with a 9% increase in sales in supermarkets and a 6% increase in the fully refurbished hypermarkets”. This improvement in sales has exceeded double digits in the case of fresh produce.

In terms of the (more than) one hundred stores per year that Eroski is planning to open over the next few years, a mix of owned stores and franchises is envisaged. The franchise formula will be used in the markets in Andalucía, Extremadura, Madrid and Levante, regions where the group, which has its headquarters in Elorrio, will open shops with a surface area of between 300 m2 and 500 m2.

Another one of its key commitment involves energy saving. The Basque group plans to open the first energetically self-sufficient supermarket in Europe, measuring 2,000 square metres in Gasteiz in 2016, which will be powered using renewable energy sources.

(…)

Original story: Deia (by Xabier Aja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Properties Takes Out A Mortgage On Marineda City

19 February 2015 – La Voz de Galicia

Merlin Properties has taken out a ten-year loan with a fixed interest rate of 2.66%.

Merlin Properties, the listed real estate investment company (Socimi), which acquired the Marineda City shopping centre from its developers (the businessmen Manuel Jove, José Collazo and José Souto) last July, has just signed a loan for €133.6 million and has secured it with the A Corunian retail complex. The loan, signed with Allianz Real Estate, has been taken out for a ten-year term, at the end of which all of the principal will be repaid, at a fixed interest rate of 2.66%, according to a statement sent by the company to the National Securities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores or CNMV).

With this loan, which sources at the company assure will not be used to finance the purchase of Marineda, on which it spent €260 million, Merlin increases its gross financial debt to €1,144 million, which is equivalent to 39% of the value of the company’s assets. Sources at the Socimi say that they are continuing to work on the financing of other real estate assets in their portfolio, whilst ensuring that they do not exceed their leverage limit of 50%.

Marineda City is the largest shopping centre in Galicia and the second largest in Spain by surface area. It was opened in 2011 and has a buildable surface area of more than half a million square metres, of which 196,000 sqm are leasable. The retail complex received 15.1 million visitors in 2014, i.e. 15% more than in the previous year.

Original story: La Voz de Galicia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Acquires Three New Properties In Spain

14 January 2015 – El Mundo

Merlin has acquired an office building in Barcelona and two logistics warehouses in Getafe and Vitoria.

As a result of these transactions, the Socimi’s gross rentable area exceeds 680,000 square metres.

The Socimi Merlin Properties, one of the leading real estate companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange, which specialises in the acquisition and management of tertiary assets in the Iberian peninsular, has announced that it completed the purchase of three new assets in December. It spent €88.4 million on the acquisitions, which will generate rental income of €5.9 million, taking the total annual gross rental income the company generates from its portfolio of assets to more than €128.8 million.

The first acquisition involved an office building in Barcelona, number 8 of the WTCAP, which it bought for €36.5 million. This represents the second purchase made by the company in the landmark business park, following its acquisition of the building at number 6 in August. Number 8 has a gross leasable area of 14,543 square metres, plus 700 sqm of storage and 247 parking spaces.

The building in the WTCAP is partially leased to multi-national companies such as Panasonic, Technip and Colt Telecom. The acquisition price represents an initial gross rental yield of 5.6% (4.8% net) and the property has high growth potential, through the rental of its unoccupied surface area (equivalent to 35% of the total leasable area). If the building were fully occupied, the rental yield of the property would exceed 8%.

Meanwhile, Merlin Properties is continuing its commitment to logistics and industrial assets, where it now has a gross leasable area under management of more than 136,000 square metres. In December 2014, it bought a logistics warehouse measuring 16,242 square metres, located in the CLA in Getafe (Madrid), which is leased to the Galician logistics company Transportes Souto under a 10-year contract. The acquisition price (€12.5 million) represents a gross and net rental yield of 8.4%.

Finally, Merlin has also acquired a logistics warehouse measuring 72,717 square metres in Vitoria, located in the Júndiz business park, which is renowned for its excellent transport connections and for housing the only Mercedes Benz factory in Spain. The park is also home to several other prestigious companies, including Correos, DHL, DB Schenker, Azkar (Dascher) and Adif. The warehouse is leased under a 10-year contract to the well-known multi-national logistics company Norbert Dentressangle. The acquisition price (€28.58 million) represents a gross and net rental yield of 9.6%.

As a result of these three transactions, Merlin Properties’ real estate portfolio now has a total gross leasable area of more than 680,000 square metres and generates gross annual rental income of €128.8 million.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axia Has Acquired An Office And 5 Warehouses For €69.33m

1 August 2014 – Estrategias de Inversión

The largest investment was in Alcobendas (Madrid), where it acquired an office building for €28.75 million.

This is proving to be a busy week for the Socimis – on Thursday, Hispania, Merlin and Lar all reported that they have made a number of investments, amounting to €377.1 million, and these companies are continuing to close transactions on Friday. In addition, Axia has invested €69.33 million buying a number of buildings.

Specifically, the company has announced the purchase of an office building in Alcobendas (Madrid) from IVG Institutional Funds for €28.75 million. The building has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 17,266 square metres, plus 396 parking spaces.

It has also acquired three logistics warehouses located in Cabanillas del Campo (Guadalajara), with a GLA of almost 37,877 square metres, for €16.68 million. Two of the warehouses belonged to Parques Industrialises Nuevas Áreas de Actividad Gran Europa and the other one was owned by Altamira Santander Real Estate.

Finally, Axia has also purchased a warehouse in Azqueca de Henares (Guadalajara) with a GLA of approximately 35,781 square metres and another in Dos Hermanas (Sevilla), with a total GLA of 42,466 square metres, for a total price of €23.90 million.

Original story: Estrategias de Inversión

Translation: Carmel Drake