Tag: Torre Picasso

Impact Hub Opens its 4th Co-Working in Madrid Spanning 2,300 m2

28 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Impact Hub is expanding in Madrid. The co-working company has just opened its fourth centre in the Spanish capital, a space spanning 2,300 m2 in the Justicia neighbourhood, which is home to 250 work spaces. It is the company’s second opening in the city so far this year, according to a statement by Impact Hub.

The co-working office is located in the Barceló area, in the heart of Madrid, and is distributed over three storeys. In addition to the work spaces, the property houses fourteen meeting rooms of varying sizes for events and meetings.

This new opening follows another that the company completed in April in Chueca, where it has a centre spanning 2,000 m2 on Calle Piamonte. Nevertheless, the company’s expansion activity will not end with this fourth centre.

During the first quarter of 2019, Impact Hub will open its fifth centre in Madrid in Torre Picasso, as revealed by Eje Prime. That co-working office will occupy 2,000 m2 of space in the property owned by Pontegadea, which has leased the commercial premises in the iconic skyscraper to the company.

When it opens in Torre Picasso, the company will have more than 9,000 m2 of flexible office space and will positioned as the fourth player in the co-working sector in Spain. The company’s first two centres are located in the Las Letras neighbourhood.

Antonio González, Director General of Impact Hub Madrid, highlights that his company aspires to be “a bridge between diverse organisations to join efforts and talent towards a common goal: that of generating a positive impact from the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.

In Madrid and Barcelona alone, the market for co-working offices grew by 71% to September, according to data from a report about flexible working spaces compiled by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega’s RE Business is Worth Almost €9bn

23 July 2018 – El Mundo

Amancio Ortega is continuing to expand the perimeter of his real estate empire. Pontegadea, the investment arm of the Inditex creator, grew by 2.8% at the end of 2017, to reach almost €9 billion (€8.759 billion) and that, despite the fact that its profits decreased by 13%, to €1.475 billion due to donations made to his foundation.

Pontegadea groups together both Amancio Ortega’s stake in Inditex as well as his real estate investments. According to the accounts filed with the Mercantile Registry of La Coruña, the company closed 2017 with a net profit attributed to the parent company of €1.475 billion, 13% less than a year earlier, due to donations amounting to €350 million made to the Amancio Ortega Foundation, a large proportion of which are devoted to the fight against cancer.

Specifically, the Foundation donated €320 million to the purchase of state-of-the-art cancer equipment, which is going to be installed in public hospitals across all of the autonomous regions.

At the end of last year, the assets of the Pontegadea group were worth €29.028 billion, its net equity amounted to €21.006 billion and its business volume reached €25.721 billion.

In addition to Torre Cepsa, which it purchased for €490 million and the building at Gran Vía 32, Ortega owns several other office buildings in Madrid such as Torre Picasso and the Castellana 79 building, which houses the largest Zara store in the world.

The Zara property portfolio

Meanwhile, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria recorded revenues (primarily due to rental income) of €385 million, up by 13.6% compared to a year earlier, and the fair value of its portfolio of assets, set by an appraiser, was €8.759 billion, up by 2.8% compared to a year earlier.

51% of the real estate revenues come from European markets, 46% from America and the remaining 3% from Asia, according to the annual accounts, which reflect that Pontegadea’s real estate investments amounted to €629 million in 2017 and at the end of the year, they amounted to €6.913 billion: €1.688 billion in Spain and the remaining €5.225 billion overseas.

Of the investments outside of Spain, €2.681 billion correspond to investments in America, €2.191 billion to Europe (excluding Spain) and €353 million to Asia.

Pontegadea Inversiones, the parent company of the Pontegadea group is chaired by Amancio Ortega and its first Vice-President is his wife, Flora Pérez.

In addition, the company’s directors include José Arnau, who is also a director of Inditex, and Roberto Cibeira, in turn, the CEO of Pontegadea Inmobiliaria.

The Inditex group, owner of fashion chains such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, recorded a net profit of €3.368 billion in the last financial year (which closed in January), up by 6.7% compared to a year earlier, and its sales amounted to €25.336 billion, up by 8.7%.

Original story: El Mundo 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Alibaba Signs Lease for its New HQ in Spain

14 December 2017 – Eje Prime

The Chinese giant Alibaba is shaking up the office market in Madrid as the year-end approaches. The Asian e-commerce group has been negotiating for several months to open offices in Madrid from where to lead its operations in the Spanish market. In the end, it has signed a rental agreement for its Spanish headquarters at number 4 Avenida Europa, in Alcobendas, a building owned by the real estate group Gosa. Until now, the technology firm Paypal also had its headquarters in the building (…).

Alibaba will move its Spanish team to the new offices in Alcobendas, which measure approximately 1,000 m2, in the middle of February, according to sources close to the operation. At the moment, the Asian giant’s employees are managing the firm’s Spanish operations from a co-working office. Alibaba has declined to comment on the planned move.

Alibaba’s arrival at number 4 Avenida Europa comes just months after Paypal’s departure from the same building. Currently, that US firm shares offices with Google and Intel in Torre Picasso, as revealed by Eje Prime.

The property that will house Alibaba’s new offices is also home to the headquarters of the cosmetics group Clarins and the Chinese firm Ansteel. Commscope is another company that had its headquarters located in the building until the middle of 2017, but in July it decided to move to number 19 on the same street.

Alcobendas has become one of the hubs of business excellence in Madrid. Indra, VASS, Emerson, Televent, Acciona, Bankinter, Europcar, Canon and Toyota are just some of the multinational companies that have chosen to locate their offices in the Madrilenian town.

Alibaba’s new office, which the company has been anticipating since February, has the capacity to accommodate the almost forty people that make up its Spanish workforce. The team is led by Estela Ye, who was promoted to General Manager of the company in Spain in March.

The office market in Madrid

Leasing of office space during the third quarter of the year in Madrid amounted to 93,173 m2, which represented an increase of 2% with respect to the same period in 2016, although, according to a report from Aguirre Newman, 16 fewer operations were closed (96).

One of the most active areas in the capital was the Other Business District (RDN), which accounted for 31% of the total space leased. Nevertheless, the report highlights that leasing in the Central Business District (27% of the total) and in the OUT area (23%), saw the most significant increases, more than doubling their figures with respect to the same period in 2016.

In terms of rents, the maximum recorded during Q3 was €36/m2/month, whilst the average rent in the CBD area was €28.96/m2/month. In the Decentralised area, the average rent amounted to €12.71/m2/month.

Original story: Eje Prime (by A. Pijuán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega Creates RE Subsidiary In Spain With Assets Worth €1,600M+

13 November 2017 – El Confidencial

Pontegadea, the investment vehicle owned by the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega (pictured below), has created a real estate subsidiary in Spain to group together its local assets, which have a combined value of more than €1,600 million. The assets include Torre Cepsa, designed by the architect Norman Foster and acquired at the end of 2016 for €490 million and the building at Gran Vía, 32, which is home to one of the largest Primark stores in Europe, and which was purchased at the beginning of 2015 for €400 million.

Specifically, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, which closed 2016 with real estate assets worth more than €6,700 million, will have a new subsidiary, in the form of Pontegadea España, a company in which Ortega will group together his real estate business in the Spanish market.

Sources close to the deal have explained to Europa Press that Pontegadea Inmobiliaria already has specific companies in many of the countries in which it operates, such as in the USA, France, United Kingdom and Korea, to hold the real estate activity of the textile giant’s founder in each respective territory.

It is about having a “more homogenous” structure in all of the markets in which Pontegadea Inmobiliaria operates (…). In fact, according to the same sources, there was no need to constitute a company for this activity in the Spanish market, given that Pontegadea already had one, Torre Norte Castellana, owner of Torre Cepsa, acquired at the end of last year. As such, it has only had to change the name of that entity to Pontegadea España, and add the leasing of real estate assets in Spain to its activity, according to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (Borme).

Torre Cepsa, Gran Vía 32 and Torre Picasso

In addition to Torre Cepsa (…) and Gran Vía, 32, Ortega owns several other buildings in Madrid, such as Torre Picasso and the Castella 79 building, which houses the largest Zara store in the world.

The founder and largest shareholder of Inditex has received revenues of €1,256 million this year in the form of dividends from Pontegadea, through the companies Pontegadea Inversiones and Partler (through which he controls a 59.294% stake in Inditex), compared with €1,108 million in 2016.

Ortega closed 2016 with real estate assets worth €6,719 million, which represents €661 million more than a year before, grouped together into his company Pontegadea Inmobiliaira, which has net assets worth €6,485 million, up from the €5,460 million that it held a year earlier. Ortega, who invests some of the dividends he receives from Inditex in the real estate sector, owns the largest real estate company in Spain, focusing on the sale, purchase and rental of large buildings. The firm owns a portfolio of real estate assets, fundamentally comprising non-residential, office buildings located in the centre of large cities in Spain, the United Kingdom, the USA and Asia.

Original story: El Confidencial

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid Attracts Many Of The Companies Relocating Their HQs From Cataluña

10 October 2017 – Expansión

Over the last 10 days, several companies with their headquarters in Cataluña, such as Oryzon, Dogi, Eurona, Proclinic and Sabadell have announced that they are moving their HQs outside the region. Oryzon has established its registered address on Carrera de San Jerónimo in Madrid (…) and the telecommunications operator Eurona has also moved to the Spanish capital (…). Meanwhile, Proclinic has announced that it is moving its headquarters to Zaragoza; Sabadell is moving to Alicante; CaixaBank to Valencia; Gas Natural and Abertis to Madrid, in both cases; and Catalana Occidente is still considering if/where to move.

According to sources consulted, no effective consultations are being carried out at the moment, but Madrid is becoming one of the major alternatives. Prime rents are higher in the capital than in Barcelona, ranging between €25/m2/month and €35/m2/month along Paseo de la Castellana, and peaking at historical maximums of €37/m2/month in Torre Serrano. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the average rent in the city centre amounts to €19/m2/month, reaching maximums of €24/m2/month on Avenida Diagonal. In any case, the performance of prime rents in both cities has been very good so far this year, with growth of 9% in the last quarter with respect to the same period last year, according to CBRE (…).

In terms of absorption, 128,108 m2 of space was leased during the second quarter of the year in Barcelona and 156,334 m2 of space was leased in Madrid. Availability is greater in Madrid, at around 12%, compared to 8% in the Catalan capital.

According to José Miguel Setién, of JLL, whilst it is really hard to find spaces of 3,000 m2 on Avenida Diagonal, there is more high-quality space available in the business district in Madrid, due to the renovations that have been carried out since 2013. As such, the market for medium-sized operations has performed exceptionally well there, even during the summer.

Overall, it is estimated that 1.5 million m2 of surface area is available in Madrid; of which 220,000 m2 is free in the centre of the capital, according to Ángel Estebaranz, National Director of Offices at Aguirre Newman. There is space available in several well-known offices such as Torre Foster, Torre Europa, Castellana 81, Castellana 77, Castellana 200 and Plaza de la Independencia, mostly grade A renovation products. Even Torre Picasso has almost two floors available, which would allow the right tenant to locate its corporate headquarters in one of the most iconic buildings in the city (…).

When it comes to choosing a new location, the nature of the company’s business plays a critical role. In this way, financial and legal companies tend to locate their offices in the business centre of cities, whilst pharmaceutical companies, for example, position themselves between the M30 and M40 ring roads, since they do not require such iconic buildings, but do need a lot of space, available in areas such as Campo de las Naciones, Alcobendas, Moraleja, Sanchinarro… Tech firms, like Google and Amazon, tend to establish themselves within the city centre but not in prime areas, such as Atocha, for example. Meanwhile, publicity firms are moving to Chamberí, with WPP and Havas’ new headquarters to be located in that neighbourhood, and Telcos are concentrating in urban areas of the city with rents of between €22/m2/month and €25/m2/month, says José Mittelbrum, National Director of Offices at CBRE (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Lucía Junco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Uber Leases 700 m2 Of Office Space In The Cube (Madrid)

22 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Uber has put the brakes on and come to a stop in Madrid. The private transport company is following in the footsteps of companies such as PayPal, Huawei and HBO, which have all opened offices in the capital, from where they manage their operations in Spain and Southern Europe. The group has leased 700 m2 of space in the digital innovation centre The Cube, according to a statement issued by the company.

Uber, which is led in Spain by Juan Galiardo, will move into the digital innovation and coworking centre, from where it will manage the expansion of the company across the country. The offices are located at number 25 on Calle Rufino, Madrid.

The group is whereby following in the footsteps of other companies such as PayPal, which has just opened new offices in Torre Picasso, Madrid, and the US giant HBO, which recently opened its headquarters for the Spanish market on Madrid’s Gran Vía.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Rents In Azca’s Towers Exceed Those In The Cuatro Torres

12 September 2017 – El Economista

The Cuatro Torres skyscrapers, to the north of Madrid, are no longer casting a shadow over Azca, which is establishing itself as the iconic business district in the city. With views overlooking the Paseo de la Castellana and just a stone’s throw from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Nuevos Ministerios transport hub, this business centre has managed to renew itself, to avoid being left behind compared with other areas of Madrid. So much so, that the rents for its recently renovated skyscrapers are 16.6% higher per square metre than the most expensive space in the Cuatro Torres, to the north of the city.

Castellana 81, the historical headquarters of BBVA, leads the ranking in terms of rental prices in Madrid, given that its empty space is being marketed for between €27 and €35 per square metre per month. This tower, designed by the prestigious architect Sáenz de Oiza, has been subjected to a comprehensive renovation by its owner, the Socimi GMP, which spent €30 million renovating one of its most iconic properties in Azca and on Madrid’s skyline.

The asset, which became a multi-tenant property when it first came onto the market, has already managed to conquer new companies following the departure of the banking entity, which moved to its own financial city, in Las Tablas, to the north of Madrid. Thus, in the last few months, rental contracts have been signed with Teka and Hays.

At the forefront of design

Castellana 77, which is also owned by the Montoro family’s real estate company and the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC, has been the subject of another of the major renovation projects that has been carried out in Azca and which has positioned the business district at the forefront of design. Its façade is covered with slats that protect it from direct sunlight and which are lit up at night in a diverse range of colours.

The tenant that decides to lease the office space in this building, which spans 16,200 m2 over 18 floors, will be able to choose the colour of the tower, which has more than 200 parking spaces as well as charging points for electric cars. With these features, this property has the second highest rents in Azca, which range between €28 and €33 per square metre per month.

And it is followed closely by Torre Europa, which housed the headquarters of the professional services firm KPMG for many years. Following the move of that consultancy firm to the Cuatro Torres, the tower has been renovated to turn it into the first intelligent and connected office building in Spain. Infinorsa, the majority owner of this skyscraper, which overlooks the Santiago Bernabéu, has invested €20 million on a facelift of the façade, which had not been changed for 30 years, and above all, on the renovation of the interior, which has given a radical about-turn to the essence of this 121m-tall tower (…).

Rents in this tower now range between €27 and €32 per square metre per month. Its renovation has already captivated one of the large international law firms, Freshfields (…). The US firm AOL has also decided to move its Spanish corporate headquarters to Torre Europa, as well as a pharmaceutical company (…).

Torre Picasso, the tallest skyscraper in Azca, at 156m, has not undergone such a comprehensive renovation as its neighbours, but following the departure of the consultancy firm EY to Torre Titania, 15,000 m2 of space there was left vacant. Some of that space in the tower owned by Pontegadea – the investment arm of Amancio Ortega – will be leased to Deloitte, which will thereby become its largest tenant. After several improvements to the property, the highest floors are now being marketed for €31/m2/month (…).

Rents in the Cuatro Torres barely reach €30/m2/month

Nevertheless, in the new financial district located in the north of Madrid and known as Las Cuatro Torres, only one of the towers manages to charge a rent of €30/m2/month, even though the buildings are much younger, given that they were inaugurated between the years 2008 and 2009.

Office space in Torre Espacio ranges between €29 and €30 per square metre per month. The Philippine group Emperador, which owns this skyscraper (…) renewed the image of the tower at the end of last year and launched a new marketing plan with the aim of finding tenants for the 8,800 m2 that were vacant in the building at that time.

Next in the ranking is Torre Cepsa, for which Amancio Ortega (…) paid €490 million last year. It is occupied almost in its entirety by the oil and gas company whose name it bears; the cost of the 15,000 m2 of space that is available ranges between €23 and €28 per square metre per month.

Meanwhile, Torre de Cristal, the tallest skyscraper in Spain, at 210m, is the most affordable of its neighbours, since its available space is being marketed for between €25 and €27 per square metre per month. Last year, KPMG left the Azca area and moved to this property, where it leases around 23,000 m2 (…).

Next door is Torre PwC, leased to the consultancy firm whose name it bears and the five-star hotel Eurostars. Its owner is the Socimi Merlin Properties (…) and PwC reportedly pays €19/m2/month.

The Cuatro Torres complex is now getting ready to receive a fifth tower, Torre Caleido. That property, which is currently being constructed (…), will be leased to IE Business School and Grupo Quirón-Salud (…), who will reportedly pay between €15 and €18 per square metre per month (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega Earned €72M From His Property Portfolio In 2016

24 July 2017 – Expansión

A portfolio worth €6,719 million containing assets spread over markets as diverse as Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom and Korea. That summarises the real estate activity of Amancio Ortega, founder and majority shareholder of the textile giant Inditex.

The fourth richest man in the world (exceeded in the ranking only by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos), with a fortune worth $80,400 million according to Forbes, has allocated most of the revenues obtained from the annual dividend he has received from Inditex for the last two decades, to creating one of the largest personal real estate portfolios in the world. Through his firm Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, Ortega has acquired buildings, primarily offices and retail premises, located in a multitude of markets.

Acquisitions

In 2016, Ortega starred in the largest purchase of an office building in Spain, by paying €490 million for Torre Foster, one of the skyscrapers that forms part of the Cuatro Torres de la Castellana complex in Madrid. Months before, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria made its debut in South Korea when it acquired the M Plaza commercial complex. For both properties, Ortega’s company spent €662 million in total, according to the most recent results presented by the company.

Also in 2016, Inditex’s largest shareholder spent around €129 million on a building in San Francisco (USA).

These investments allowed Pontegadea Inmobiliaria to increase its total asset volume by €661 million in 12 months. At the end of 2016, the company owned net assets worth €6,475 million, up by €373 million compared to the previous year.

Despite this increase in assets, Pontegadea’s revenues and profits decreased last year. Revenues amounted to €120 million, compared to €129 million in 2015. Nevertheless, the gross operating profit rose slightly in 2016 to €102 million, compared with €101 million a year earlier. Last year, Pontegadea’s profit amounted to €72 million, down by 30%. The company attributes this decrease (the second consecutive fall, given that it earned €182 million in 2014) to “currency fluctuations”, which “generated negative exchange rate differences of €19 million, concentrated primarily in the variation of the value of the pound sterling”.

The British real estate market is one of Pontegadea’s favourite destinations. In London alone, Ortega’s property arm has invested at least €3,000 million. Some of its properties include Rio Tinto’s headquarters, acquired for €335 million in 2015 and Devonshire House, for which it paid €480 million in 2013. In March, Pontegadea covered a €114 million capital increase of its British subsidiary (Pontegadea UK).

In Spain, in addition to Torre Foster, also known as Torre Cepsa thanks to its tenant, Pontegadea also owns Torre Picasso, Gran Vía 32 and several buildings along La Castellana.

Pontegadea Inversiones

Ortega’s property arm forms part of the business conglomerate that the founder of Inditex has controlled for several years through Pontegadea Inversiones. That company, which groups together its majority stake in the textile group (59.29% in total), recorded revenues of €23,649 million in 2016, compared with €21,234 million a year earlier. Last year, the company’s profit amounted to €3,277 million, up by 8.3% compared to the previous year.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

EY Gets Ready To Move 2,500 Professionals To Torre Azca

1 December 2016 – Expansión

EY is preparing to move into Torre Azca, previously known as Torre Titania, and is completing the final details of its move, which will be completed next March. The professional services firm will occupy 22,000 m2 of this 100-m tall building, which is owned by El Corte Inglés.

EY will occupy eleven office floors in this property, whose lower floors are occupied by the distribution group’s department store. EY’s employees will have direct access from the street. Specifically, 2,500 professionals will be located on floors 10 to 18, and the 19th floor will be used for external client meeting rooms, with more than 15 meeting rooms and an auditorium. Meanwhile, the 9th floor will house a canteen and a space for events and training. EY will also have a room with panoramic views of Madrid where it will hold presentations and events.

The firm will place is logo at the top of the tower, which will include more than 28 LED modules and will be visible from the Paseo de la Castellana and from Paseo del Prado. EY has been advised by the real estate consultancy CBRE regarding the design of the new offices and the logo, which is currently being installed.

Besides Torre Azca, EY will also lease 2,000 m2 of additional space in Torre de Mahou for its reprographic team. The President of EY España, José Luis Perelli, explained to Expansión that the move to the tower will be completed in several phases. “Two floors have already been occupied by employees from the finance team, who moved in in October. They are busy resolving questions and ensuring that everything is working property, in an effort to minimise problems when most of the staff move in”.

Perelli explains that the move to the new headquarters responds to a change, not only in the building needs, but also in the culture. “We need collaborative spaces that allow us to prioritise the resolution of clients’ needs with multidisciplinary teams”.

The Director of Human Resources at EY in Spain, José Luis Risco, explained that EY’s staff will be able to work on “any floor in the building because the technological means will allow it”. The company is committed to “paperless, open spaces, without any offices”, which promote flexibility and interaction between workers.

Nevertheless, to facilitate the need for so-called Chinese walls, workers will be able to use soundproof rooms on every floor so that they can work with their teams and have confidential conversations.

In line with current intelligent buildings, EY’s new offices will be equipped with the latest technological solutions. For example, there will be a wifi connection throughout the tower, and the building will have 25 video-conference rooms as well as a centralised system for booking meeting rooms, which will allow users to reserve a meeting room from anywhere in the world using an app.

The new offices are located in the heart of the financial district, just a stone’s throw from Torre Picasso – EY’s headquarters until now – and are well connected in terms of public transport. The property also has a car park.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ortega Acquires Torre Cepsa For €490M

3 October 2016 – La Opinión A Coruña

On Friday, the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, completed the acquisition of Torre Cepsa in Madrid, for around €490 million, according to sources close to the operation. Ortega submitted his offer through his real estate company Pontegadea to IPIC, the Abu Dhabi state fund, owner of the oil and gas company Cepsa, which has leased the property, owned until now by Bankia, since 2013.

The building, one of the four towers in the north of Paseo de la Castellana, has a surface area measuring more than 109,000 sqm, including offices covering a gross leasable area of 56,250 sqm and a five-storey car park measuring 37,500 sqm.

The operation was completed in two phases. In the first phase, Khadem Al Qubaisi, the former director general of IPIC, exercised his purchase option, worth around €400 million to acquire the building. He then immediately sold the property onto Pontegadea for €490 million.

In October 2013, Bankia signed an agreement to lease the tower, designed by Norman Foster, which houses the corporate headquarters of Cepsa. The contract had an eight-year term, extendable for another seven years on a year by year basis. But it included a future purchase option, which the tenant had the right to exercise for a price to be determined at the time of the operation, on the basis of objective criteria agreed in advance.

As such, Amancio Ortega has acquired his second skyscraper on La Castellana, following his purchase of Torre Picasso, in 2011, for €400 million. The richest man in Spain and the second wealthiest man in the world also owns number 32 on Madrid’s Gran Vía, which makes him the landlord of some of Zara’s key rival brands such as Mango, H&M and Primark.

This purchase expands Ortega’s property portfolio, which used to be worth around €6,000 million – and is now worth more, if only because of the significant income that will result in terms of rental payments -. And the buildings that Pontegadea buys have a clear profile: iconic, historical buildings, dedicated to commercial and office use that can be rented to companies and institutions that are significant because of their size or solvency. The firm has a genuine real estate empire in Madrid, Barcelona and the main capital cities of Europe and the USA, but in recent months, it has also started to set its sights on Asia. (…).

Pontegadea’s bid was most favoured by IPIC even though it was not the highest – it had received others for €530 million – but the fund ruled those out because it preferred the liquidity and seriousness of Ortega’s offer.

Original story: La Opinión A Coruña

Translation: Carmel Drake