Tag: Villar Mir

Villar Mir Raises €268 Million Funding For Canalejas Project

29/12/2014 – Cinco Dias

The Villar Mir and OHL Group closed Canalejas Project financing by signing a credit agreement for a maximum amount of EUR 268 million, making it the largest financing operation granted to a real estate development project in Spain over recent years.

Specifically, funding has been signed-on for a period of 10 years – 3 years of construction and 7 of exploitation, according to the company.

This transaction involves a group of Spanish and foreign financial institutions: Banco Santander, CaixaBank, Banco Popular Español, which have acted as mandated lead arrangers in addition to Bankinter, Unicaja Banco, MoraBanc Group, Inmomutua Madrileña and Generali Insurance and Reinsurance.

The Canalejas complex, developed by the Grupo Villar Mir, in a landmark location in Madrid will employ about 4,800 workers and reach an annual sales volume of nearly €200 million.

The project, which seeks to promote urban renewal of the iconic area in downtown Madrid also entails the opening of the first hotel of the Canadian luxury chain Four Seasons in Spain.

The 5-star luxury hotel will have an area of 26,000 sq. m, 215 rooms, banquets and meeting halls, 2 restaurants, a spa, gym as well as an indoor swimming pool. It will also feature between 28 and 30 residences for sale, spread over a total area of 6,000 sq. m.

Canalejas will also feature a shopping mall of 16,000 sq. m. over 3 storeys and an underground parking lot. All this will be complemented with an underground bus station on Calle Sevilla and refurbishment of the existing parking lot, which will be carried out by the City.

The purpose of this complex is to rehabilitate the historic downtown of Madrid and make use of 7 contiguous properties located on Calle Alcalá, Calle Sevilla, Plaza de Canalejas and Carrera de San Jerónimo. Having remained unoccupied for 10 years and some of them dating back to 1887, the properties were sold to Villar Mir Group from Banco Santander in a €215-million transaction.

Since they were acquired in December 2012, restoration work on various protected structures have been carried out as well as interior demolition and facade cladding works.

With respect to protected structures, there are over 130 listed elements of carpentry, locksmith’s works, stonework and stained glass windows. They will be restored and relocated in the future project to be fully operational in 2017.

The Canalejas project involves an important job creation feature. In the construction phase, from 2013 to 2017, 600 direct and 1,200 indirect jobs will be generated. The operational phase is expected to create over 3,000 direct or indirect jobs – 1,200 in the hotel and 1,800 in the shopping center.

Original article: Cinco Dias (by EFE)

Translation: Aura REE

Villar Mir Grabs 0.24% More of Colonial

14/11/2014 – Expansion

Grupo Villar Mir has paid its way deeper into Colonial’s stake. The company chaired by Juan Miguel Villar Mir (pictured), already holding 24.4% majority share in the real estate firm, has bought eight million shares more for €4.5 million total, representing a 0.24% stake.

Second main shareholder of Colonial is the Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund, Qatar Investment Authority (13.1%), followed by Amura Capital (a sicav of MoraBanc) with 7.05% and Aguila (Santo Domingo) with 6.5%.

The Balance

In the nine first months of 2014, Colonial obtained a net profit of €563 million, while a year earlier it lost €369 million during the same period of time. The improvement was a result of deconsolidation of its bad bank, Asentia.

The income proceeding from rentals declined 1.2% to €158 million. During the three past quarters, Colonial has signed lease contracts on 93.860 square meters, with totally new agreements accounting for 53%. Net recurring profit of the firm showed €12.9 million (€1.7 million in 2013). Presently, shares of Colonial sell at 0.579 euros each.

 

Original article: Expansión (by M. Anglés)

Translation: AURA REE

Villar Mir Disposes of a 0.18% Share in Colonial

20/10/2014 – Expasion

Grupo Villar Mir sold shares of Colonial representing 0.18% of the stake for €3.1 million, the National Stock Exchange Market Commission of Spain reports.

Juan Miguel Villar Mir (pictured) still keeps the majority shareholder seat at the real estate company.

 

Original article: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE

OHL Transfers 5% in Abertis to Villar Mir’s Topline Inmobiliaria Espacio for €701.91 Mn

15/10/2014 – Bolsamania

OHL has sold a total of 44.91 million shares of Abertis, correspondent to 5% of the firm’s stake, to Inmobiliaria Espacio, principal company of Grupo Villar Mir, for €704,91 million.

The amount indicates that each share’s price stood at €15.6944, while currently they are traded at 14.8200 euros each (down 1.17%).

The operation, expected to conclude still this week, increases stake of OHL in Abertis from former 13.925% to 18.925%. The company is going to intend the equity obtained from the sale for paying in advance a part of its debt with recourse secured by the transferred shareholding.

The Syndicate Agreement

OHL and Inmobiliaria Espacio signed a syndicate agreement on the stake of Abertis with view to ‘coordinate and unanimous excercise of corresponding voting rights’. In case of lack of agreement between the parties, majority of votes shall prevail. The contract will be in force for one year with possibility of prolonging it to the next years.

 

Original article: Bolsamanía (by Sara Carbonell)

Translation: AURA REE

“Villar Mir Boosted Interest in Colonial”

11/04/2014 – Expansion

Colonial´s headquarters are filled with enthusiastic mood as Pere Viñolas, the CEO and Juan José Brugera, the president, not only have managed to raise private and banking capital and therefore save the real estate company but also attracted attention of investors.

“One year ago our situation was tragic”, says Viñolas. (…) In short, Colonial will enlarge its capital by €1.266 million and save SFL. Also, it raised the new syndicated loan from €600 million to €1 billion that will allow it to pay-off the debt expiring this year. (…).

“For many years, Colonial has been working on its repute hanging out in global property village and (…) the recent purchase of 3.8% stake by Qatar wealth fund has been one of the fuits”.

Moreover, the CEO stresses that “thanks to Villar Mir other investors started to trust in the project again”. (…)

Since Villar Mir, Mora Banc and Santo Domingo group announced the capital injection, shares of the real estate firm tripled their price. However, Viñolas vows for “analysis of Colonial´s shares instead of its Stock value”. (…).

 

 

Original article: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: AURA REE

Colonial to Enlarge Capital & Save SFL

24/03/2014 – Cinco Dias

The managing board of Colonial has decided to suplement the startup capital of €1 billion with €266 million more. The new enlargement was approved by the board on 21 January. Initially, the plan foresaw selling 20% of Société Foncière Lyonnaise (SFL) in which Colonial holds a 53% stake. Obtaining a new syndicated loan would allow payment of €1.759 million loan that expires at the end of the year.

(…) The Villar Mir Group that owns 20,27% of Colonial´s capital contributed by €300 million last year. This year the company will invest at least €50 million more. Villar Mir defeated Brookfield at the war on control over the real estate firm.

The U.S. private equity firm acquired 46% of syndicated loan valued at €1.759 million and revealed an intention of restructuring property sales and swapping the debt for assets. (…).

The nearest extraordinary shareholders´ meeting will take place on 8 April. (…) “Successful execution of the capital enlargement and obtaining a long-term syndicated loan will permit paying-off the current syndicated loan of €1.8 billion, keeping the majority stake at SFL and stabilizing the Loan to Value below 50%” – points out Colonial.

One of the most apposite steps taken by the real estate company was the creation of Asentia, its private “bad bank”. (…)

 

 

Original article: Cinco Días (Alberto Ortín Ramón)

Translation: AURA REE

Villar Mir takes over Colonial

22/01/2014 – El Mundo

Yesterday, the shareholders of Colonial approved in an extraordinary meeting to increase the capital up to 1.000 million Euros. With this transaction the group Villar Mir will take over the real estate, reinforced as first partner with the 29,9% of the shares.

Colonial’s Executive Director, Pere Viñolas, specified that 79,2% of the shareholders voted in favor. He considers that the first step has been taken to refinance depts. Although the fund of the Canadian investment Brookfield has bought the 46% of the syndicated loan and therefore is its first creditor, Viñolas yesterday supported that “there is no risk” of “blocking” the debt restructuring and that Colonial works in order to achieve “a new debt structure that will pay the former”.

However, it is unknown how Brookfield will react. Yesterday, not even one fund representative took the floor to defend its own alternative. But, in spite of Brookfield’ s silence, the board presented the offer made by the Canadian fund and Viñolas, in a press conference, urged to increase the capital, according to Efe’s information.

A plan for increase

The plan contemplates a monetary increase up to 1.000 million, the sale of maximum 20% of SFL’s shares, in which Colonial is the majority shareholder of 53% and the acquisition of a new syndicated loan that will contribute to pay off the current one, which expires at the end of the year.

From these 1.000 million Euros, 500 are already guaranteed, since Villar Mir will deposit maximum 300 and other two investors- the Latin American investment firm Santo Domingo and the Andorran sicav Amura Capital- have promised to deposit 100 each. Regarding the remaining 500, Viñola strongly believes in the interest of the investors in participating in this increase, but just in case, the Board authorized the possibility of converting the debts into capital.

Villar Mir in 14th of January became the reference shareholder of Colonial, after buying from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 19,33% of the real estate for 43,6 million. After the capital’s increase, the group aspires to control a maximum of 29,9% in order to avoid launching a takeover bid.

Source: El Mundo

Stock Market: Colonial Appreciates & Leaves the Price Offered by Villar Mir Behind

Stock experts have no explanation for the sudden rise in Colonial´s assets price observed in the last days. The news from January 2nd about the fresh capital injection by Juan Miguel Villar Mir (300 million Euros) has caused fall by 17.2%, then followed by another taper down by 15.9%. But in the last five sessions the titles climbed up by 58.15% and therefore set the price at €1.23 per asset, moving away from the price of €0.5 that Villar Mir is ready to pay. Yesterday the company on the Spanish Stock Market costed 279 million Euros while the best offer received from Villar Mir set its value at 112 million Euros.

What is the real price of Colonial? The last Net Asset Value (NAV) of the company made public in November last year shows €0.98 per share. Great European real estate companies quote with almost 20% discount on the declared NAVs. In case of Colonial, the hypothetical value could be punishable due to the company´s high indebtedness and its urgent necessity to capitalize itself as its syndicate credit exceeding 1.800 million Euros expires at the end of 2014. Since January 1st, its credit´s interest rate went up and now the company bears costs at 8% of it, namely 12 million Euros. If it extrapolated this year, the company would have to pay 144 million Euros.

Finally, the stock analysts remind that Colonial announced sale of its crown jewel, the French branch SFL that also suffers loss in value.

No matter what kind of logic drives the progressive adjustment of the assets in regard to the price offered by Villar Mir, the titles project a surprising upsurge keeping the market on tenterhooks. Analyst from M&G Valores, Nicolás López, says that “Villar Mir´s step in would rescue a real estate company that does not generate sufficient income to return the interest rate costs and by the deed would avoid causing its shareholders to lose money, but it does not justify the rises observed on the stock market. Buying now could be charged with significant risk (…)”.

Source: Expansión

Villar Mir Attracted by Jewels of Colonial

Focus on the patrimonial business, mainly on the offices, and not to get involved into the real estate development. This is the business plan of Juan José Brugera, the chairman of Colonial. His strategy had called attention of Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who has declared willingness to invest 300 million Euros and thus become the main shareholder in the quoted real estate company.

Colonial is already working on retaking strategy of asset rotation once it finalizes the capital enlargement. The management board of the firm has been considering various solutions for repairing its balance for last 2 years. Last week it announced fresh capital injection of 1.000 million Euros, out of which half is already assigned to Villar Mir group, to a SICAV of Mora Banc and the Colombian group Santo Domingo.

(…) Colonial possesses 49 office buildings split among Paris (managed by its subsidiary SFL), Madrid and Barcelona, amounting to 1.1 million square meters and valued at 5.222 million Euros.

At present the French portfolio (precisely the Parisian one) is the most important, both for surface (equal to 44%, compared to 29% of Madrid and 29% of Barcelona) and the revenues it brings (70% of total rents procedes from France (…)). Colonial is now considering selling a part of SFL in order to pay off the debt but the new investors set the sale maximum level at 20%.

Some of the assets have been released by now, like Casa de les Punxes in Barcelona for 25 millon Euros and the Ágora Towers in Madrid sold recently for 73 millones.

Apart from the strong portfolio of buildings situated in the big national market places and one of the most significant at the European level, Colonial´s power lies in its tenants as well. Companies like Aben-goa, Banca Cívica and Iberia in Madrid; Natixis and Hugo Boss in Paris; and Gas Natural, La Caixa and Accenture in Barcelona are only an example of the relevant occupiers of Colonial´s buildings.

Source: Expansión

Villar Mir to Inject 300 Million Euros into Colonial & Become its Principal Shareholder

Villar Mir Group, the owner of OHL, will become the main shareholder in the real estate company Colonial by injecting 300 million Euros. The company´s capital will extend to 1.000 million Euros, 60% of which is already covered.

Apart from Villar Mar, Santo Domingo Group and a SICAV of Banca Mora will contribute to the capital increase by injecting between 100 – 150 and 100 million Euros respectively.

Moreover, Colonial chaired by Juan José Brugera foresees sale of 15%-20% of its French subsidary, SFL, through which it would gain additional 400 million Euros. For the rest of the liabilities, the company will sign a loan contract of 600 million Euros with Credit Agricole. The final target is to reduce the indebtedness from the present 70% to 50% in debt assets.

Colonial owns a 3.800 million debt, out of which 1.800 millions corresponds to a syndicate loan to overcome at the end of 2014. In the first three quarters of 2013, the group registered a 369 million loss (83%) compared to the same period in 2012, due to its high indebtedness and its branch Asentia, gathering its toxic assets.

Special Summit

The Administrative Board of Colonial called on the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders in Barcelona on January 20th, at 12:30 the first call, and the next day, namely January 21st 2014, the second call.

Before the transaction, the real estate company was suspended before the opening of the market. Colonial´s securities, from going up to 2.2% at the return to quotation after 10 hours, down to 17.29% at the closing with 0.866 Euros.

Source: Expansión