Tag: trading

Paralysis In Trading Amongst The MAB’s Socimis

17 January 2017 – Idealista

The Alternative Investment Market (MAB) has become the catapult for many small Socimis – the real estate investment vehicles that are obliged to debut on the stock market to maintain the tax benefits that they enjoy.

Currently, this platform is home to 28 such companies, of which 17 debuted during 2016, however, not all of them are attracting the attention of investors. What’s more, one in five is trading today at the same price per share at which they debuted and some of them haven’t registered any movements in their share prices at all, which means that they are not being traded.

Examples include some of the most recent companies to debut. One of them is Inmofam 99, a Socimi that has 10 commercial and residential assets in its portfolio, which is owned by the Hinojosa family, the founder of the Cortefiel textile group. It debuted on the MAB on 21 December 2016 at a price of €17.60 per share and it is still trading at that price almost one month later, according to data from BME, the company that manages the Spanish stock market.

The same is happening with RREF II Al Breck, which debuted on the MAB on 30 November 2016, at a price of €5.40 per share, the same price at which it is currently trading. This Socimi, controlled by a company headquartered in Luxembourg, is the owner of almost 700 assets, mainly homes located in Madrid, although it also owns retail premises, one office and several storerooms, garages and basements.

Another Socimi that finds itself in the same situation is Euro Cervantes, a company that holds two investment stakes in its portfolio: one 30% stake in GMP, the owner of homes, offices and land, and one 49% stake in La Maquinista shopping centre, the largest in Barcelona. This vehicle is owned by the Government of Singapore and has been trading at €31 per share since 22 September 2016.

Corona Patrimonial and Heref Habaneras are also experiencing very similar situations. (…).

These five Socimis together have a combined market value of €353.8 million, a figure that increases to more than €900 million in we include Zambal Spain, which has also been having a tough time. This vehicle, which owns several offices and retail premises, whose tenants are giant businesses operating in Spain, has been trading for almost 14 months (it debuted on the MAB on 1 December 2015…). It is currently trading at €1.24 per share, the same level at which it debuted, although its shares have been traded significantly. During its first month on the market, the company moved 10,000 shares and €13,000, whilst during 2016 as a whole, it moved half a million in both shares and cash. (…).

Trading plummets during first fortnight of 2017

A certain degree of apathy is being observed amongst the Socimis on the MAB in these early stages of the year. Some other vehicles should be added to the list above, including Corpfin Capital Prime Retail, Fidere Patrimonio, GMP Property, Hadley Investments, Inversiones Doalca and Mercal Inmuebles. In fact, of the 28 Socimis trading on this platform, only five have been traded, to a greater or lesser extent, during the first fortnight of January.

The most liquid of all of them is Entrecampos Cuatro, the first Socimi to debut on the stock market (back in November 2013) and whose portfolio mainly contains homes, premises, offices and land. In two weeks, this vehicle has seen 188,000 shares traded for €350,000.

The second most liquid has been Trajano Iberia…with 9,000 shares traded for €91,000. It is followed by the office specialist Autonomy Spain Real Estate (3,000 shares traded for €51,000); Vbare Iberian Properties (2,000 shares traded for €32,000); and Optimum RE (€3,000 traded). The latter two hold homes in their portfolios.

As such, and despite the fact that investors do not normally back Socimis on the MAB (because they are smaller entities with less liquidity…), it is true that we have found some companies that have managed to increase their value by double digits since they debuted on the platform, such as Entrecampos and Optimum, which are amongst the few that have seen movement in their shares during the first two weeks of the year.

Original story: Idealista (by Ana. P. Alarcos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Begins Its New Journey As Spain’s Largest RE Company

2 November 2016 – Cinco Días

On Monday, Merlin Properties consummated the latest stage in the process to create Spain’s new real estate giant. Trading of the Socimi’s new shares began on the Ibex 35 after it completed the absorption of Metrovacesa’s real estate assets, giving rise to a company with a market capitalisation of around €4,810 million, according to Bloomberg.

The 146.7 million new shares in the Socimi – or listed real estate investment company –, following the exchange of Metrovacesa shares, began trading on the stock exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbaoon Monday.

To complete the exchange, Merlin had to hand over those 146.7 million shares with a nominal value of one euro to Metrovacesa’s shareholders. Those shares were launched with an issue premium of €10.40, in other words, with a total value of €1,526 million.

This operation was first announced back in June, when the Socimi chaired by Ismael Clemente (pictured above) reported that it was going to absorb the real estate business of Metrovacesa – owner of offices, shopping centres and other real estate assets that are rented out – which was controlled at the time by Santander (70%), BBVA (21%) and Popular (9%).

During trading on Monday, Merlin’s share price fell by 0.58% to €10.24.

By virtue of this agreement, another jointly owned company emerged, in the form of Testa Residencial, which will be converted into a Socimi and listed on the stock market in the future, and which owns the companies’ rental homes. In this case, the aforementioned financial entities will control around 65% of the new companies and the former shareholders of the Socimi will be minority shareholders, although one of Merlin’s directors, Miguel Oñate, will serve as the CEO.

As a result of this operation, the bank chaired by Ana Patricia Botín, now holds a 21.95% stake in Merlin and a 46.21% stake in Testa Residencial.

The exponential growth of Merlin

Similarly, the former real estate company, created in 1918 to develop the neighbourhood of Cuatro Caminos following the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway in Madrid, will continue to operate another company called Metrovacesa Promoción y Suelo, which will be responsible for the future construction of homes.

Merlin, created in 2014, attracted confidence from international investors from the get go. Upon constitution, it acquired the Árbol portfolio, containing more than 1,000 BBVA branches, which had previously been owned by several funds and family offices.

The strategy of the Socimi’s managers was to grow rapidly, benefitting from investor confidence and the recovery in the sector. In 2015, it seized the opportunity to buy Sacyr’s real estate subsidiary Testa for €1,800 million. As such, it added several iconic buildings in Barcelona and Madrid to its portfolio, including one of the four towers to the north of the Castellana. Following that decision, it received the blessing from its investors to carry out a €1,034 million capital increase and it immediately followed that with the clean up of its liabilities, with a syndicated loan from ten entities amounting to €1,700 million and the issue of bonds amounting to €850 million (in April).

With the integration of Metrovacesa complete, the new Merlin now controls assets worth €9,600 million, and whereby becomes one of the largest 10 Socimis in Europe and the second largest owner of shopping centres in Spain.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Optimum Re Will Debut On The MAB On 28 September

27 September 2016 – Expansión

The Socimi Optimum Re will debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) on Wednesday 28 September, after the Coordination and Incorporations Committee submitted a favourable assessment report to its Board of Directors regarding the company’s compliance with the incorporation requirements.

The company will require approval in advance from the MAB’s Board of Directors to start trading.

The company’s trading code will be ‘YORS’ and its shares will be traded through a price fixing system. Solventis is acting as the registered advisor and the company’s liquidity provider.

Taking into consideration the two capital increases performed prior to its debut on the MAB, which amounted to €16.61 million in total, the company’s Board of Directors has set a reference value for each one of its shares at €10, whereby valuing the company as a whole at €50 million.

Optimum Re is a real estate investment company managed by BMB CAP Management, which aims to provide returns derived from rental income and capital appreciation that are generated from the selective acquisition and active management of residential properties in Barcelona and Madrid. Currently, the company’s portfolio comprises fourteen properties and the firm expects to complete the acquisition of an additional building before the end of 2016.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Vitruvio Will Debut On The MAB On 8 July

7 July 2016 – Europa Press

The Socimi Vitruvio will debut on the Alternative Investment Madrid (MAB) on Friday, 8 July, at a price of €12.63 per share, which represents a market capitalisation for the company of €38.5 million, according to the BME.

The company owns a portfolio containing four residential buildings, five offices and four retail premises in Madrid, as well as one penthouse apartment in Ibiza.

Vitruvio is the nineteenth Socimi to debut on the MAB, with the ultimate aim of raising funds to finance growth.

Vitruvio’s share capital is divided between around 121 shareholders, however four of them control around 28% of the total capital. According to the prospectus for the IPO, these four shareholers are: Eva Martínez Ertl, Antonio Martínez-Cabrera, Juan Acero-Riesgo and Matías Ortiz de Saracho.

The Socimi’s Chairman and CEO is Joaquín López-Chicheri, a professional who has combined his career in private banking with academic work and who, since 2013, has also chaired the fund CorA Investment.

Vitruvio’s portfolio of real estate assets includes a residential building for rent in Calle Ayala in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, and another on Calle Sagasta, in Chamberí.

In addition, it owns several retail premises on Calles Goya, Bravo Murillo and López de Hoyos, an office building on Fernández de la Hoz and a restaurant in Centro Colón.

Vitruvio closed 2015 with a profit of around €433,000, 51% higher than the previous year when its results were penalised by certain tax effects. Its revenues from rental income rose by 12% to €667,000.

The Socimi will debut on the MAB under the ticker symbol YVIT and its shares will be traded under the price fixing system

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Asturias Retail & Leisure Socimi Will Debut On The MAB On Friday

29 June 2016 – Telecinco

The company Asturias Retail and Leisure Socimi will debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) on Friday 1 July, after it received the green light from the MAB’s Coordination and Incorporations Committee, which has confirmed that it fulfils all of the necessary requirements for listing.

Using the valuation report prepared by the independent expert Ernst & Young Servicios Corporatives, the company’s Board of Directors has set a reference value of €19.15 for each one of its share, which values the company at €95.8 million.

The debut of the company, which will become the eighteenth Socimi to join the MAB, still requires prior approval from the MAB’s Board of Directors.

The company’s trading code will be YAST and its shares will be traded through the price fixing system. Renta 4 Corporate is the company’s registered advisor, whilst Renta 4 Sociedad de Valores is acting as its liquidity provider.

Asturias Retail and Leisure Socimi owns three properties in Oviedo, through two subsidiaries: the shopping centre known as Intu Asturias and seven retail premises, a hypermarket leased to Eroski and a service station.

Original story: Telecinco

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar Completes €134.9M Capital Increase

10 August 2015 – Expansión

The Socimi Lar España has completed a capital increase for 19.9 million shares, representing 50% of its capital, with demand exceeding supply by 9.2 times.

According to the company’s report to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Lar España Real Estate’s shareholders subscribed 98.49% of the new shares during the preferential subscription period.

The Socimi has issued the shares with a nominal value of €2.00 and a premium of €4.76, and so has secured additional funding of €134.9 million in total, which it has earmarked for further investment.

During the preferential subscription period and the period for assigning additional shares, requests were received to purchase 183.5 million shares, however supply amounted to just 19.9 million shares.

The new shares will begin trading today (Monday 10 August 2015).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche’s Socimi Trajano To List On MAB On 30 July

27 July 2015 – El Día

The Socimi Trajano Iberia, which is managed and promoted by a division of Deutsche Bank, will begin trading on the Alternative Investment Market (Mercado Alternativo Bursátil or MAB) on 30 July, whereby becoming the sixth listed real estate investment company to be publicly traded on the stock exchange.

Trajano will debut on the MAB once it has completed its €94.8 million capital increase, which is being led by investors of the Wealth Management division of Deutsche Bank in Spain.

Under the ticker “YTRA”, the company will debut on the stock market at a share price of €9.98, according to a statement by the Spanish Stock Exchanges and Markets (‘Bolsas y Mercados Españoles’ or BME).

The listing will be performed through a price-fixing system with the matching of supply and demand in two daily auctions or “fixing” periods (at 12:00h and 16:00h).

Trajano Iberia will invest in offices in “semi-prime” locations in Madrid and Barcelona and in “prime” areas of secondary cities. It will also seek out shopping centres and retail parks, as well as logistics assets in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia and the País Vasco.

According to the company’s strategic plan, Trajano Iberia will materialise its investments within a maximum period of 24 months, however the management team considers that this period could be reduced on the basis of the strong prospects that the real estate sector is currently enjoying.

The company will be managed by the team responsible for the real estate division of Deustche Asset & Wealth Management in Spain and Portugal.

Currently, Deutsche Bank manages real estate assets worth more than €46,000 million around the world and €740 million in Spain and Portugal.

Deloitte is acting as the registered advisor and BEKA Finance as the liquidity provider. Since last year, several companies have listed publicly under the Socimi structure.

The first company to debut on the stock exchange was Lar España Real Estate, on 5 March, with initial capital of €400 million. The next company to list in the sector was Hispania, the listed company controlled by the fund manager Azora and owned by the multimillionaires George Soros and John Paulson, who subsequently created a Socimi through which they have made several purchases.

Meanwhile on 30 June, the Socimi Merlin Properties, starred in the largest IPO since 2011 with a valuation of €1,250 million. Axiare also listed on the stock exchange, with a valuation of €360 million, as did Uro Property, the Socimi that owns one third of Santander’s branches.

Original story: El Día

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axiare Closes Accelerated Placement Ahead Of Its Capital Increase

18 May 2015 – Expansión

The Socimi has just closed an accelerated placement with investors ahead of its capital increase.

The listed real estate investment company (Socimi) Axiare Patrimonio wants to maintain the speed of investment that has enabled it to disburse €460 million since its IPO last summer. To this end, the company has announced a capital increase of €394 million, with the aim of doubling its share capital.

Last week, the Socimi led by Luis López de Herrera Oria launched a brochure containing the details of the transaction, which would involve the issue of around 35.87 million new shares, at a nominal value of ten euros per share, plus a premium of one euro (per share).

The capital increase will have preferential subscription rights. The Socimi’s shareholders include funds such as T. Rowe Price and Taube Hodson, and Citigroup.

Axiare owns assets worth €507.95 million, including office buildings in Madrid and logistics warehouses in Guadalajara (pictured above). During the first quarter of 2015, the Socimi generated revenues of €7.59 million and a profit of €2.32 million.

Placement

Ahead of this capital increase, Axiare closed an accelerated placement of the shares of one of its largest shareholders, Perry Capital, on Friday. The objective of this placement was to provide greater liquidity for the company’s stock.

The placement of 3.5 million shares (representing 9.721% of its share capital) was closed in record time (one hour) and with a slight issue premium (€12 per share). Buyers of these shares included institutional investment funds from the US, Britain and Norway, according to sources at the company.

The subscription rights for these shares will begin trading on 20 May, whilst the shares themselves will begin trading on 10 June. On Friday, Axiare’s share price closed down 0.29% on the stock exchange at €11.94 per share.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Uro Property To Launch For €259M On MAB Tomorrow

11 March 2015 – Expansión

Uro Property Holding, the real estate investment company (Socimi), whose primary shareholders are Santander, Atisha (the former Sun Group) and CaixaBank, will begin its journey on the Alternative Investment Market (Mercado Alternativo Bursátil or MAB) tomorrow.

In total, the company will start trading 2.59 million shares, at a starting price of €100/share, bringing its market capitalisation to €259.7 million. Based on this market value, Uro Property will be the largest company on the MAB, exceeded only by Gowex (€572 million), which was suspended from trading at the beginning of July after accounting regularities surfaced at the company.

Uro Property will hereby become the 27th company to list on the alternative market, which is aimed at small and mid-market companies.

PwC has acted as the auditor of the company, whilst Renta 4 has been the registered advisor and will serve as the liquidity provider in this IPO.

Uro, which will list (its shares) through a fixing procedure, whereby prices will be published twice a day – at 12:00 and 16:00 – owns 1,136 branches, which it leases to Santander. In 2013, its income from the rental of all of its real estate assets amounted to €125.9 million.

Original story: Expansión (by D.E.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sacyr Begins Relaunch Of Testa’s IPO To Raise €300m

3 February 2015 – Expansión

Testa, a company controlled by Sacyr, which owns 99.3% of its share capital, will hold the annual meeting of its shareholders today. It is expected that the mandate of the real estate company’s Board will be renewed to approve the distribution of extraordinary dividends and contributions to shareholders through a reduction in share capital. These measures are conditioned on the launch of Testa’s IPO, through which the company seeks to raise at least €300 million.

Specifically, Testa’s Board will give the green light to a capital reduction of €669 million and the return of a further €527 million to its parent company. Sacyr will receive €1,188 million from its subsidiary for both of these concepts.

Sacyr has engaged JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Garrigues to coordinate the IPO. Although the percentage stakes (of the new shareholders) have not been fixed, the entry of new shareholders (which will dilute the current ownership structure) will be limited to a maximum of 30% of the capital, since Sacyr wants to retain its position as the controlling shareholder, with a stake of more than 70%. The banks tried to launch this transaction last year, but market conditions prevented it from going ahead.

The company will try again in 2015, at a time when companies have turned their gaze back to the stock market as a means of financing their businesses and growth plans. Currently, around twenty companies in Europe are looking to go public. In Spain, notable placements include those by Aena, Saeta Yield (ACS), Abertis Telecom and Talgo, amongst others.

Testa’s shares closed trading yesterday flat at €18 per share, representing a market capitalisation of €2,078 million. At this market price, the sale of 25% of Testa’s capital would generate revenues of €500 million.

The subsidiary is the jewel in Sacyr’s crown. It is one of the leading companies in its sector by market assets, with a leasable surface area of 1.37 million square metres and an occupancy rate of 97%.

Original story: Expansión (by C. M.)

Translation: Carmel Drake