Tag: tender

Adif & Repsol Sell Residential Plot In Madrid To Vía Célere

14 November 2016 – Expansión

The Madrilenian real estate company Vía Célere has been awarded a plot of land, with a buildable surface area of 14,859 m2, for €29.15 million, which the railway manager and the oil company put up for sale in Méndez Álvaro (Madrid).

Specifically, Vía Célere will pay €29,157,830 for the plot, located in the Méndez Álvaro area, next to Repsol’s headquarters in Madrid.

The plot, which has a surface area of 2,107 m2 and a buildable surface area of almost 15,000 m2, was put on the market in July for €27 million. The deadline for the presentation of offers closed on 2 November and on Friday, the vendors announced the winning candidate.

Until now, the plot of land was owned jointly by Adif (42%), Repsol (21.5%) and the Compensation Board of Méndez Álvaro (36.5%).

This is the second operation that the real estate company Vía Célere has completed in just a week. On 5 November, the company chaired by Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado was awarded a plot of land located in the district of Moncloa-Arava, which the Directorate General of Heritage, which forms part of the Ministry of Finance, put up for auction.

For that plot, which has a buildable surface area of 11,230 m2, the real estate company paid €19.6 million.

Vía Célere is one of the most active property developers in the residential market. Created in 2010 by Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, it owns two other plots in the centre of Madrid, which it acquired in April, and has several projects underway in Barcelona. It is also marketing six developments in Brazil, in the capital and in several other cities.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Atxa Buys Podavines Building In Donostia For €10M

10 November 2016 – Diario Vasco

The Podavines de Amara building in San Sebastián-Donostia was sold on Tuesday to a property developer who is going to convert the property into (unsubsidised) housing. The Department for Social Security organised an auction for the land…and just one bidder participated, Atxa, S.A., who will pay the starting price of €9,959,000. The proceeds will be paid to the Department for Social Security, which will use the funds to finance pensions payments, according to sources at the Government’s Sub-delegation in Guipúzcoa.

The Department for Social Security carried out the public auction of this property on Tuesday and the building was awarded to the company Atxa S.A., which, given that it was the only firm to submit a bid, logically offered the minimum tender price of €9,959,000. The State’s Central Administration will conduct checks over the next few day to ensure that the company does not have any debts with the Department for Social Security and will proceed to formalise the award of the property, according to sources at the Government’s Sub-delegation in Guipúzcoa.

This building, located at the intersection of Calle José María Salaberria, Paseo de Errondo and Avenida Carlos I, has been unoccupied for the last year and a half. Its previous tenant, the Department for Social Security, moved to new facilities in Riberas de Loiola at the beginning of February last year. The building is 43 years ago and the urban planning classification for the land is residential. The property comprises a ground floor plus four other above ground floors and three basement floors. Its total above ground surface area amounts to 9,534m2 (it has a useful constructed surface area of 8,351 m2, according to registry and cadastral data) and a further 1,560 m2 under ground. In reality, the building has three entrances (on Podavina 1 and 3 and on Avenida de Carlos I, 34-36-38) (…).

The company that has purchased the plot clearly considers that the land has significant potential to be used for unsubsidised housing. Diario Vasco has made contact with the company but its spokesperson was not able to specify timeframes or clarify whether the property will be demolished or renovated for the new residential project. (…).

Original story: Diario Vasco

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir Negotiates Partial Sale Of Fifth Tower To Hispania

29 September 2016 – Expansión

According to the businessman Juan Miguel Villar Mir, the Villar Mir Group has begun negotiations with the Socimi Hispania to join forces for the development of the fifth tower, the new skyscraper in the north of Madrid, next to the Cuatro Torres Business Area complex.

It is one of the most important buildings in the capital in terms of investment, given that the developers will need around €500 million to cover the construction and rental costs – an initial lease has been granted for a period of 75 years.

Sources at the family holding company have confirmed that preliminary conversations have begun, aimed at Hispania’s entry into the project “as a minority shareholder”. Other sources state that the Socimi, managed by the Azora group and in which George Soros holds a stake, may be interested in acquiring 100% of the building, which will be leased in its entirety. Nevertheless, the Villar Mir Group assures that it will maintain the majority stake.

The fifth tower project, which Villar Mir won at the end of 2014 in a tender organised by the Town Hall of Madrid, has already selected its tenants. Earlier this year, the IE Business School agreed to lease 50,000 sqm of the building for its campus. The bottom part of the complex, measuring 12,000 sqm, will house leisure areas, a shopping arcade and a health centre, which will, in theory, be operated by the Quirón Group. The project, promoted by the Villar Mir family, still needs to obtain the definitive permits from the mayoress of Madrid, Manuela Carmena.

Partners

In September 2015, the Swiss investment fund Corestate announced that it had agreed to form a joint venture with the Villar Mir Group to jointly develop the fifth tower. Six months later, in March 2016, Juan Miguel Villar Mir qualified that announcement by stating that the agreement with Corestate had not been signed yet. With or without Corestate, the negotiations with Hispania are happening at a time of peak activity for Spain’s listed Socimis. Hispania reached the final round of the tender to acquire the building, after it partnered up with Ferrovial, but Villar Mir won the 75-year lease by offering to pay an annual fee of €4 million, equivalent to twice the bid price. (…).

Divestments

The search for partners forms part of the strategy being pursued by the Villar Mir’s holding company to finance its multi-million investment commitments through Espacio and OHL, without increasing its debt, which amounts to €14,000 million. The other source of extraordinary income comes from the sale of its assets. (…).

The group needs funds to tackle its three major real estate projects (the fifth tower, the Canalejas Complex and the War Office in London), as well as several toll roads in Latin America.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán and R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ministry Of Finance Auctions Off 34 Buildings In Community Of Madrid

30 August 2016 – Expansión

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance has announced the public auction of 34 properties owned by the Central Government in Madrid capital and in another nine municipalities across the Community of Madrid, according to a statement published today in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

The properties comprise urban buildings and land in the centre of Madrid as well as in the municipalities of Galapagar, Torrelodones, Somosierra, Boadilla del Monte, Chinchón, Loeches, Tres Cantos, Valdemoro and Estremera.

Bids will be submitted in sealed envelopes and the amount of the guarantee will be 5% of the value of the assets, according the statement made in the BOE by the Delegation for Economic Affairs and Finance in Madrid.

The period for the submission of bids will open tomorrow and will end on 20 October, with the sealed envelopes being opened on 3 November.

In the capital, the properties located in the following places will be auctioned off: Calle General Varela, 21-23; Calle Almagro, 28; Calle Monte Esquinza, 41- ground floor; Calle Cervantes, 6; Calle la Oca 15, ground floor, right; the plot of land on the corner of Avenida Santo Ángel de la Guarda and General Cadenas Campos 19, as well as plots in the APR Calle Cantalejo, in the UNP Ciudad Aeropuertuaria de Valdebebas, in the UZP Ensanche de Vallecas and in the PAU de Carabanchel.

The urban plot on Avenida Santo Ángel de la Guarda, which has a surface area of 3,173.81 sqm and a constructible area of 11,230.15 sqm, has the highest appraisal value (€17.18 million) of all of the assets in the portfolio.

It is followed by the buildings on Calle General Valera de Madrid, valued at €5.9 million and Calle Almagro, worth €3.18 million, whilst in the municipalities, the most valuable building is a rural property in Valdemoro, measuring 46,999 sqm, worth more than €3.4 million, as well as a plot of land in Tres Cantos, valued at €3.2 million.

Those interested in participating in the auction must provide the information detailed in the tender specification document, and may request information about the properties from the State’s Real Estate Service from the Treasury’s delegation on Calle Guzmán el Bueno, or through the Ministry’s website www.minhap.gob.es.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander Considers Repurchasing 85% Of Altamira From Apollo

27 July 2016 – Expansión

The financial institution is considering taking back control of its real estate platform to improve its margins and create a large global firm to provide services in other countries.

The sale of Altamira could turn full circle. Santander and the US fund Apollo have held meetings in recent weeks to discuss the possibility of the Spanish bank repurchasing 85% of the real estate platform, according to financial sources consulted by Expansión.

These negotiations come just two and a half years after the financial institution decided to get rid of its controlling stake in the real estate platform. Then, Apollo fought off other funds in a competitive process in which it paid €664 million for 85% of the company, generating a gross profit of €550 million for the bank.

According to financial sources consulted, Santander’s new approach has arisen for three main reasons: the aim of creating a new area for the management of doubtful assets at the global level, ahead of the forecast increase in default rates in countries such as Brazil; to improve its margins, given that the current agreement forces the bank to pay commission to Altamira; and to take advantage of the financial improvement that Altamira is enjoying.

For the time being, the plans are in a very preliminary phase and both Santander and Apollo have explored other options for Altamira. One of the options would involve a movement in the opposite direction from the 85% repurchase: namely, to extend Apolllo’s agreement to other countries.

New management

Since Apollo took control of Altamira, changes have been introduced in the management of the platform with the aim of maximising sales. One of the new administrators’ great successes came when the company was awarded one of the four management contracts that Sareb put up for tender at the end of 2013.

Specifically, Altamira Asset Management took over the second largest contract on offer, comprising 44,000 properties and loans to doubtful property developers that had been originated by Catalunya Ciaxa, BMN and Caja 3, worth €14,000 million initially. To win this tender, the platform controlled by Apollo paid out €174 million as a deposit for this contract, which it will recover as it achieves its objectives.

In addition to these assets, Altamira administers foreclosed properties and loans linked to properties from Santander and from its main shareholder Apollo. Nevertheless, the Spanish bank will reduce the perimeter of the assets that it holds on its balance sheet as a result of the merger between Metrovacesa and Merlin Properties.

According to its accounts for 2015, Altamira Asset Management Holdings, the company in which Altamira holds a 85% stake, recorded profits of €25.2 million last year, down by 11% compared to the previous year. Part of that decrease was due to the costs of migrating Sareb’s portfolio of assets. Its turnover amounted to €267 million and the operating profit stood at €81 million. The company forecasts that its profits will increase this year thanks to the sales it will generate from Sareb: “In 2016, we will manage Sareb’s portfolio for the whole year, which is expected to increase the group’s turnover”, according to last year’s annual accounts.

Original story: Expansión (J. Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin: Yields On Commercial & Logistics Assets Will Recover In 2016

8 April 2016 – Mis Oficinas

The Chairman of Merlin Properties, Ismael Clemente (pictured above), has said that the company is observing an emerging recovery in office rents and a clear recovery in the yields on logistics and commercial assets.

Speaking at the company’s General Shareholders’ Meeting, he confirmed that he expects to see less investment activity this year, and for that information to be focused primarily on logistics assets.

Given the company’s portfolio, which is worth around €6,000 million, the company says that it can afford to be more selective when it comes to committing to new investments and it recognises that international investors have uncertainties given the political landscape in Spain.

The company has also launched an energy certification program for its office buildings, which will affect around 37 of the 47 properties in its portfolio, will cost around €10 million and will last for three years.

Similarly, it is developing an office building at the junction of the M-11 and A1 motorways on the former Levitt site, whose works will go up for tender soon. It is also working on a turnkey logistics product.

During his speech, Clemente said that, following the purchase of Testa, Merlin is now the undisputed market leader with rental assets worth €6,000 million. It is also the market leader in the office, retail outlet and logistics segments.

“The magnitude of what has been achieved is enormous. The integration of Testa has been completed in record time, which has allowed the consolidation of the team that is already operating at full capacity”, he added.

Merlin’s commitment is to develop a model based on high quality assets, with solvent tenants and a policy of acquisitions and financing without risks.

“We depend on a political, economic and regulatory environment that provides us with security, but that is also where some of the uncertainty lies”, he acknowledged.

Original story: Mis Oficinas

Translation: Carmel Drake

Centerbridge Could Raise €200M-€300M From Sale Of Aktua

6 November 2015 – Expansión

The consolidation has begun of the banks’ former real estate companies, also known as servicers. The US fund Centerbridge has put its subsidiary Aktua up for sale, which it acquired from Banesto in 2012. The operation – known as Project Pegasus – has been entrusted to the investment banks Barclays and Bank of America, and to the law firm Linklaters, and has been valued at between €200 million and €300 million, according to various sources.

Aktua currently employs around 400 people and manages real estate assets worth €6,000 million. Alongside the assets that originated from Banesto – whose management it maintained following that entity’s integration with Santander – Centerbridge also manages properties and debt from BMN and several recovery contracts for other entities.

Centerbridge’s withdrawal from the market was first triggered when Aktua lost the contract it had held with Sareb, following that entity’s tender to select new managers in 2014. Since then, those assets have been managed by Altamira, owned by Apollo and Santander, which seems to be the likely candidate to take over Aktua.

Sources in the sector do not rule out the possibility that Aktua will end up in the hands of one of the other servicers that are part-owned by funds operating in Spain, such as Altamira; Aliseda, owned by Värde, Kennedy Wilson and Popular; Haya Real Estate, owned by Cerberus; Servihabitat, owned by TPG and CaixaBank; and Anticipa, owned by Blackstone. They have also not ruled out the possibility that Solvia, owned by Sabadell, will enter the process, since it was awarded one of the Sareb contracts.

With these kinds of operations, international funds are looking to obtain scale and efficiency in order to make their platforms more profitable. These investors spent almost €2,300 million buying servicers from the banks.

According to Reuters, new funds, interested in entering the sector for the first time, may also join the bidding, such as the private equity firm Permira.

In addition to these possible mergers, experts in the sector also expect that some of the entities that have not outsourced the management of their assets may do so. In fact, Ibercaja is progressing with Project Kite, which includes 6,900 residential units, 1,300 commercial premises and industrial warehouses and 600 plots of land, worth €800 million, and a team of professionals specialising in the segment, comprising around 50 employees.

Centerbridge’s exit from this business comes at a time when other opportunistic funds are also leaving the market, such as Elliott, which recently sold its recovery management platform to Cabot; and Fortress, which has put two of its main businesses in Spain up for sale: the financing company Lico Leasing and the loan management platform Paratus.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Quirón Salud’ Considers Opening A Hospital In The Fifth Tower

7 October 2015 – Cinco Días

The Quirón Salud group is currently considering opening a hospital in the so-called fifth tower, the skyscraper that the Villar Mir group is planning to build at the northern end of the Paseo de la Castellana, on land that was previously home to Real Madrid’s former Ciudad Deportiva. This step would enable the company led by Juan Miguel Villar Mir to construct this emblematic building.

The Villar Mir group was awarded the plot of land next to the Cuatro Torres in April. The company is planning to build a new skyscraper on the site and has always hoped that building would house a private health centre. The corporation won this project, through its subsidiary Inmobiliaria Espacio, but does not have any tenants for the property for the time being.

Initially, the sector thought that the US hospital group Mount Sinai was the most likely candidate to occupy the skyscraper, in its first expected foray into Spain, but the numbers did not stack up for the healthcare company – it concluded that the rental charge was too high for a social use building, according to sources close to the operation.

Now, the baton may be passed to Quirón Salud, the main private hospital group in Spain, which was created following the merger of IDC Salud (formerly Capio) and Quirón. According to sources at the company, it is currently evaluating the project. The company has 70 health centres, including the Fundación Jiménez Díaz, and manages several public hospitals in Madrid, as well as a number of prestigious clinics such as La Luz, San José and the Ruber, in the capital and Teknon and Dexeus, amongst others, in Barcelona. However, the company has not yet confirmed what kind of centre or facilities it would consider opening in the tower.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that Villar Mir will receive help from the Swiss fund Corestate Capital to construct the skyscraper. In a statement, the company announced that the project will require investment of €240 million, and although it did not specify how much each partner will invest, it did say that the possible tenants will be “a hospital, university or government body”. In fact, construction of the property is not expected to start until the tenant (client) has been identified so that the building can be tailored accordingly.

Over the last few days, the possibility of opening a business school in the tower has been evaluated. Some market sources insist that it will be hard for Quirón to make the numbers stack up to open a hospital in the skyscraper.

Villar Mir acquired the plot of land in a tender after presenting the highest bid; the company will pay the Town Hall an annual fee of €4 million for 75 years, in other words, €300 million in total. The plot has a surface area of 67,000 m2 and a buildability of 70,000 m2, of which 52,500 m2 must be allocated to social use (for example, a hospital); the remainder will be developed as retail space. That part is precisely what the hundreds of employees who work in the four adjoining towers want the most, given the lack of restaurants and services currently in the area.

Villar Mir also owns one of those skyscrapers, Torre Espacio, which is currently up for sale, with an asking price of around €600 million. The possible bidders include international funds, such as UBS, Aca, Corporación Financiera Alba and Pontegadea.

Original story: Cinco Días (by A. Simón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘InmoGlacier’ & ‘Aquila Capital’ Awarded VPO Plots In Villaverde

2 July 2015 – El Mundo

The company InmoGlacier and the investment fund Aquila Capital (under the joint venture Plainfield Spain S.L. created for this purpose) will lead the major VPO (social housing) transaction in Villaverde. The State Public Business Land Company (la ‘Sociedad Estatal Pública Empresarial del Suelo’ or Sepes), which reports into the Ministry of Development, has awarded the large package of land – nine plots with space for around 1,200 VPO homes – to these two firms, after Sepes put out to tender the area in the former Central Park of the Engineers for development (…).

In the end, the land has been awarded in exchange for a cash payment of €44.93 million (excluding tax), i.e. €600,00 above the tender starting price, which was set at €44.31 million. This major operation demonstrates the renewed interest in residential development in the south of the capital.

The nine plots sold by Sepes occupy a total area of 52,500 m2 of land and 120,425 m2 of buildable space for the construction of more then 800 VPO homes for sale and a further 400 VPO homes for rent “with the same characteristics and build level as those for sale”.

The heads of InmoGlacier and Aquila, who have released information about the project, describe it as “the most ambitious project in Madrid, due to its size; and the most innovative and social, due to its concept”. “The numbers and magnitude of this investment are unmatched by any other urban development in Madrid”, says the sources.

According to InmoGlacier and Aquila Capital, the future housing developments will be completed in nine blocks – three for rent – and will have swimming pools, gyms, sports areas, padel courts and extensive green and recreational areas, as well as shops and a range of equipment and services, including a nursery and supermarkets, which will trade with different operators. (…).

The project will involve investment of almost €200 million, for the construction of buildings with garages and storage rooms, as well as the design of the common areas, sports facilities and shops.

InmoGlacier and Aquila plan to begin construction work at the beginning of 2016 and to complete it in the spring of 2017. In October of this year, they expect to open an information point occupying a space of more than 300 m2 on the site itself, where people will be able to find out more information about the housing project and its facilities. “This project will be an example for the sector”, say its developers.

Original story: El Mundo (by Jorge Salido Cobo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA’s Purchase Of Catalunya Banc Is “Unblocked”

16 April 2015 – El Mundo

Yesterday, the US fund Blackstone finalised its purchase of a portfolio of problematic assets from Catalunya Banc (which is known by its commercial name: ‘Catalunya Caixa’) for €4,123 million. This transaction unblocks the acquisition of that entity by BBVA, which now just needs to be approved by the EU’s competition authorities.

The Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (the FROB) confirmed yesterday that the transaction had been conducted through the transfer of the portfolio to an asset securitisation fund, with the support of the public body itself, which sits under the Ministry of the Economy.

Specifically, the FROB will subscribe to a bond issue amounting to €524.9 million, whilst Blackstone will contribute €3,598.4 million. As a result of this transaction, the US fund will acquire a portfolio of problematic loans amounting to almost €6,400 million. Last summer, the portfolio aroused (a great deal of) interest from several funds that specialise in the management of doubtful debts.

Boost to business

The completion of this sale was a necessary condition for BBVA’s purchase of Catalunya Banc to go ahead. BBVA won the competitive tender against Santander and CaixaBank.

The entity chaired by Francisco González offered €1,187 million for the ill-fated savings bank, although the final price will be lower once cumulative tax credits have been deducted and because a series of guarantees will take effect in the event that the assets acquired are impaired by more than expected.

This purchase has allowed BBVA to gain a significant presence in Catalunya, where it is now the second largest entity by market share (accounting for almost 30%), exceeded only by CaixaBank. The transaction has also allowed BBVA to boost its asset management business, by adding around €2,000 million of assets under management.

Just like in the case of Novagalicia, the tender for Catalunya Banc has received criticism from those who believe that the State has rushed to sell of both of the entities. The losses of the Catalan entity alone amounted to €11,500 million.

Original story: El Mundo (by J. G. Gallego)

Translation: Carmel Drake