Tag: Vitruvio

Vitruvio Finalises the Absorption of Fidelges

3 January 2020 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio, the Socimi led by Joaquín López-Chicheri has convened an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting on 5 February to approve the merger by absorption of the real estate company Fidelges.

Last September, Vitruvio reached an agreement to acquire 35% of Fidelges’ shares for €6 million. If that operation is approved by the Socimi’s shareholders next month, it will result in the absorption of the company.

Fidelges has a real estate portfolio worth €21.4 million, which will increase Vitruvio’s asset portfolio to more than €180 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio Invests €16.5 Million in Three Buildings in Central Madrid

9 October 2019 – The firm Vitruvio announced that it had acquired 35% of Fidelges S.L. for €6 million. Also, the company stated that it would propose a merger by absorption with the latter firm. The deal, valued at a total of 16.5 million euros, will allow Vitruvio to acquire three properties in central Madrid at an average cost per square meter of €2,700.

The three properties are located in prime areas of Madrid, at Calle Duque de Rivas 4, Calle Aguirre 1 and Calle Tribulete 23. The buildings will undergo an investment of €4.5 million in upgrades and renovations to convert them into residential developments.

Original Story: Idealista

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Vitruvio’s Shareholders Approve its Takeover of Única

5 June 2019 – Eje Prime

The General Shareholders’ Meeting of Vitruvio has approved the company’s takeover bid for Única. The shareholders of the Socimi now have until 19 June to accept the purchase offer. The operation is expected to close for around €32 million.

Following this acquisition, Vitruvio will own 71 rental properties, comprising offices, homes and commercial premises, located mainly in Madrid, worth more than €160 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Retail Socimi Única’s Profit Soared by 42% in 2018

26 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Única Real Estate is on a roll. The Socimi, which specialises in retail premises, has presented its results for 2018, revealing 42% higher earnings than a year earlier. Specifically, the company recorded a profit of €495,498, compared to €348,060 in 2017.

In parallel, Única generated revenues of €19.7 million, which translates into growth of 49% compared to its turnover a year earlier. The company’s operating result amounted to €858,105 in 2018, up by 45.6% compared to a year earlier.

The Socimi also reported that its real estate portfolio ended the year with a market value of €44.8 million, according to a valuation carried out by Savills Consultores Inmobiliarios. In total, Única has 36 commercial premises, spanning 8,655 m2 (…).

Looking ahead, Única’s forecasts involve executing the corporate operation in which it has been immersed since the end of 2018, and which involves the purchase of 100% of the company’s shares by Vitruvio Real Estate Socimi (…).

Única completed its stock market debut in 2018, and started trading on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) on 27 June. The Socimi ended the year with a market capitalisation of €30.5 million and a share price of €26.60, up by 1.6% compared to its debut.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio to Complete a €14.5M Capital Increase Ahead of its Takeover of Única

5 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio is preparing to launch its takeover bid for Única. The Socimi is planning to complete a €14.5 million capital increase to finance the operation, which will be complemented by the exchange of shares plus available cash from the company.

In addition, the company has now completed the two due diligence processes on the Madrilenian Socimi – specifically, the technical and legal due diligences, and both of them have proved positive. “That was the last step that needed to be completed before submitting the offer to the reference shareholders of Única, which is extendable to all of the shareholders”, explained sources at Vitruvio speaking to Eje Prime.

Vitruvio is planning to close the operation for around €32 million. After adding €45 million in properties from Única, the group will be managing a portfolio of rental assets worth €160 million.

According to explanations provided by the Socimi in a statement sent to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), the capital increase will finance part of the acquisition, fulfil the maximum indebtedness limit of 33% and make way for the entry of new investors.

The rest of the operation will be paid for with €8.1 million of available cash as well as financing available to Vitruvio for the purchase, and another €9.7 million, which will be paid for with shares representing 30% of Única.

The capital increase will be proposed at the next shareholders meeting in March at a price of €14.50 per share. “Vitruvio will propose the capital increase at the latest NAV per share, whereby avoiding any dilution of the shareholders”, explained the company.

Única Real Estate was founded in 2015 by the former CEO of Metrovacesa, Eduardo Paraja, and specialises in the acquisition and leasing of commercial premises in the Community of Madrid.

Vitruvio, meanwhile, has a diversified portfolio comprising offices, homes and commercial premises. Together, the two companies own 71 properties, and generate revenues and EBITDA of €9.3 million and €6.3 million, respectively.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I. P. Gestal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio Submits €32M Bid to Acquire Única Real Estate

8 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio is planning to grow from inside the Alternative Investment Market (MAB). The Socimi chaired by Joaquín López-Chicheri has submitted an offer amounting to €31.96 million for Única Real Estate, the manager that is also listed on the same exchange, according to a statement filed by the company with the MAB.

The bid covers 100% of Única’s share capital, for which the Socimi has established a payment of approximately €27.14 per share, on the basis of the number of shares in circulation to date and the valuation that Vitruvio has determined for the company.

The team led by López-Chicheri has agreed that the payment may be made both in cash as well as by exchanging shares in Vitruvio. Each shareholder that participates will have to accept a share exchange as the payment form for at least 25% of the shares that they sell and a maximum of 75% in cash, explained the company.

Moreover, the Socimi is offering Única the possibility of postponing the appointment of a representative to its Board. After learning about the interest of the listed company in purchasing it, the operation must be approved at the General Shareholders’ Meeting by 51% of Vitruvio’s shareholders, once the favourable reports have been received from an independent expert designated by the Mercantile Registry and following the legal, technical and financial review.

Vitruvio: profits up by 22% to June to €580,000  

The Socimi, specialising in the management of office buildings, homes and commercial premises, recorded a profit of €578,459 during the first half of 2018, up by 21.8% compared to the same period in 2017.

Supported by its 288 investors, of which only one owns more than 5% of the company, Vitruvio owns around thirty real estate assets located all over Spain. Nevertheless, the Socimi has a clear focus on Madrid, given that the Spanish capital accounts for 79% of its portfolio. The other assets are located in Bizkaia (10%), Barcelona (4%) and a number of other cities ranging from Palencia to Salamanca, and including Ourense, Badajoz and Zamora.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Vitruvio to Sale its Industrial Assets worth €12.8M

2 November 2018 – La Información

The Socimi Vitruvio, which focuses on the residential market, wants to take a new step on its journey and get rid of its industrial assets. In this way, the Socimi, which has Joaquín López-Chicheri as its CEO, will focus on the residential sector, above all, although without neglecting its commercial assets or offices. On the other hand, it will dispose of the least glamorous part of its real estate portfolio, its logistics warehouses.

This part of its business, worth €12.8 million, according to the company’s own accounts, generates a return of 9.3% – the highest of any of its divisions – and has an occupancy rate of 100%. Despite that, the company’s plans involve forgetting about these types of assets, which they consider to be “residual” and “non-strategic”.

“We have always thought that residential is the safest type of asset”, say sources at the company. On the other hand, they recognise that diversification is due, in large part, to the need to generate higher profits to access dividend payments to shareholders. “Residential has the capacity to generate a lower recurring return, unless you assume one more level of risk”, said the CEO of the firm.

Where are this Socimi’s industrial assets located? The firm led by López-Chicheri owns properties of an industrial nature in Mercamadrid and Yunquera de Henares, a town close to Guadalajara.

The first of them, located in the aforementioned distribution platform, has a market value of €2.82 million, which represents a price of €526/m2. The second, on an industrial estate in the town of Yunquera de Henares, Guadalajara has a market value of €5.2 million. That asset has a surface area of 13,587 m2 and a price of €381/m2.

The Socimi that now wants to divest the logistics component of its assets has a “patrimonialist” vision, according to its CEO. In this way, the firm has diversified its assets to reduce risks. “The portfolios that traditional patrimonialist firms have are normally distributed between residential, well-located commercial premises and offices. And that is what Vitruvio has”, said the executive.

This real estate investment company was constituted in June 2014, under the Socimi tax regime. Since then, it has undergone several capital increases – raising almost €30 million in total – to acquire assets and position itself ahead of its stock market debut.

The bell was rung in July 2016, two years after its creation, at a price of €12.63 per share and with 126 shareholders. Nowadays, Vitruvio’s shares are listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) through the fixing system – with two daily auctions – at a price of €13.70 per share.

In January of that same year, the company carried out its largest capital increase to date raising €11.5 million. Thanks to that, the number of assets increased along with their value to exceed €100 million.

Original story: La Información (by Lucía Gómez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

MAB’s Director Encourages Socimis to Generate Trust to Attract Investment

30 October 2018 – Finanzas

The Director General of the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), Jesús González Nieto (pictured below), has today encouraged the Socimis to “generate trust” through the transparency of their corporate governance arrangements to attract new investors and “to depend on the market for growth”.

González Nieto closed a conference about Socimis at the headquarters of the CEOE by underlining that generating trust is a task for everyone so that the real estate investment formula, which has been on the Spanish stock market for five years, can become increasingly well known.

In his opinion, the French and British markets have many more small investors in the real estate sector thanks to the structures that they have, which are similar to Socimis, and so he expects growth in the Spanish market if the entities can manage to provide good information about that possibility of stock market investment.

At the moment, 61 Socimis are trading on the MAB, whilst another five trade on the main stock market.

The Director General of Renta 4 Banco, Jesús Sánchez-Quiñones, has inaugurated a process for the concentration of Socimis over the coming years and has said that “they are avoiding stock market crashes”, due to their strong expectations and lower liquidity.

Representatives from eleven Socimis participated in the conference, ten on behalf of Socimis that are trading on the MAB and one that will make its debut soon: Park Rose Iberoamericana, which will start trading on 15 December.

The President of Park Rose, Luis Alberto Akel, explained that his firm has Chilean capital and is diversifying its real estate investments in Chile, the USA and Spain.

The CEO of Témpore, Nicolás Díaz Saldaña, warned that “there is a lot of international interest in the Spanish residential sector”, and, after reminding the audience that his Socimi arose as an “additional mechanism for the divestment of assets by Sareb”, he said that when that operation concludes, they will go “and look for new investors”.

Díaz Saldaña has indicated that he would like for Témpore to be listed on the main stock market and the Director General of GMP Property, José Luis García de la Calle, also noted that his firm has considered that option, but that the growing “demands” of the MAB are already broad enough, without having to implement audit and remuneration committees.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Castellana Properties, Alfonso Brunet said, “We are getting ready to comply with the requirements of the main stock market”.

The CEO of Vitruvio, Joaquín López-Chicheri, highlighted that “the Socimis allow us to diversify risk” and to be present in the four segments (residential, commercial, offices and logistics), whilst other participants in the conference indicated that they prefer to focus on a niche market.

In this way, José Nistal, from the Socimi Almagro, explained its specialisation in the purchase and rental of flats for the elderly, where the tenants have an average age of 84.3 years.

The latest Socimi to join the MAB, Azaria, in September, focuses exclusively on the long-term, stable, rental of offices and its only asset, for the time being, is the headquarters of El Páis, which is leased until 2033, explained its manager, Teodoro Díez.

Sergi Mirapeix, from Tander, explained that his firm only invests in commercial premises in the most central areas of cities (currently, it is present in four: Barcelona, Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastián) and Jorge González, the representative of the Socimi Asturias, has indicated that its sole objective is to focus on large retail parks.

Josep Turró, from Barcino, said that his firm is going to seek to diversify as much as possible, by “adaptating to demand”, and Fabrizio Agrimi, from Vbare Iberian, said that his Socimi is committed to “added value, without property developer risk”.

Original story: Finanzas 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio Acquires Commercial Premise in Madrid for €1.5M

5 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio is gaining strength in the centre of Madrid. The Socimi has just completed the purchase of a commercial premise in Madrid for €1.5 million. With this acquisition, the real estate group now owns 100% of the building located at number 52 Calle Fernández de la Hoz, which it acquired in 2016, according to the company. Vitruvio also recently completed the renovation of the building.

The commercial premise that Vitruvio has just purchased has a commercial surface area of 314 m2 and until now was occupied by a Bankia bank branch. “The acquisition has not required external financing, but rather has been paid for using the company’s own funds”, say sources at the Socimi.

The acquisition forms part of the transformation strategy that the company has carried out on the building on Fernández de la Hoz to improve the rental income generated by the asset when it purchased it in 2016”, they explain.

“The building has been renovated, to create modern and attractive office space so that the future tenants will be able to benefit from the location of the property in an open and modern space”, they maintain. “Therefore, adding the commercial premise means improving the representativeness of the entrance and improving the space for the tenants of the offices”.

After starting the year with this purchase (in April, it ruled out the acquisition of another building that it was evaluating), the Socimi is looking ahead with 2018 with optimism after recording strong results in 2017. The company closed last year with a 91% increase in its profits to €1.1 million, and a real estate portfolio worth more than €107 million.

That growth was due in large part to the integration of CPI, a real estate investment vehicle created by Consulnor (the manager in which Banca March holds a 48% stake), as revealed by Eje Prime last September.

Meanwhile, rental income at the end of the quarter amounted to €5.1 million, which represented a return of 4.8% on the most recent valuation. Once the building work has been completed on the properties on c/Sagasta and c/Fernández de la Hoz, the income will increase to more than €6 million, which will result in a yield of around 6%. Specifically, the return on Vitruvio’s residential premises amounted to 3.8% in 2017; on its offices to 6.2%; on its commercial premises to 6.4%; and on its industrial premises to 9.3%.

At the end of the year, Vitruvio managed 36 assets and 126 tenants, of which 118 accounted for less than 3% of its income. In terms of asset composition: 38% of the Socimi’s portfolio comprises residential properties; 28% commercial; 22% offices; and 12% industrial.

The company concentrates the bulk of its assets in Madrid, which account for 78% of the portfolio, followed by Vizcaya (10%) and Barcelona (4%). Portfolio highlights include the property at number 24 Calle Sagasta in Madrid, worth €18.8 million and the building on Calle Ayala 101, worth €10.3 million.

In the last quarter, Vitruvio refinanced a significant part of its debt. The group obtained a €19 million loan with a fourteen-year term and an interest rate of 1.95%.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Investors Increase their Commitment to Rental Housing

3 May 2018 – Expansión

The boom in the residential market, the changing habits in society, the difficulties involved in accessing housing and the increase in mobility have all led to a rebound in the residential rental market in Spain. According to the latest data from Eurostat, more than 22% of Spanish households live in rented properties, although that figure is still well behind the average for the European Union (34%).

In addition, the State Housing Plan, which seeks to encourage rental amongst the younger generation, and the greater professionalisation of the sector, is going to serve to further boost the rental market in Spain.

The change in trend, as well as the increase in residential rental yields, has compelled investors to analyse this business as an alternative to other real estate assets such as offices, shopping centres and hotels.

To lead this market, certain players have redoubled their commitment to rental housing, such as the case of Testa Residencial – the Socimi in which Santander, BBVA, Acciona and Merlin hold stakes – which owns almost 9,300 residential rental properties, with a gross value of €2.275 billion and annual rental income of €72.2 million.

Stock market debuts

That Socimi is preparing its leap onto the market, which will be carried out through an offer of its existing shares (OPV) and an issue of new shares (OPS) aimed exclusively at qualified investors.

One of the first players to back this business was Blackstone, which purchased 18 residential developments, containing 1,860 homes in total, in the Madrilenian neighbourhoods of Carabanchel, Centro, Villa de Vallecas and Villaverde from the Municipal Housing and Land Company of Madrid (EMVS) in July 2013. In 2015, the fund debuted its Socimi Fidere on the MAB (Alternative Investment Market) with 2,688 social housing properties, including those acquired from the EMVS two years earlier. Currently, Fidere owns around 6,400 homes for rent.

The fund also debuted Albirana on the MAB in March 2017 with a portfolio of 5,000 rental homes proceeding from Catalunya Banc loans. Another star of the real estate sector that has detected an opportunity in the rental sector to offload its assets is the Company for the Management of Assets proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System (Sareb) with Témpore Properties. That Socimi debuted on the MAB in April with a portfolio of 1,553 residential units, which have a gross value of €175 million.

Another player is Vivenio Residencial, the investment vehicle created by the Dutch pension fund APG together with Renta Corporación. Vivenio has invested around €200 million in the purchase of properties and now owns more than 1,000 rental homes. The Socimi plans to debut on the stock market in 2019.

According to data from Armabex, in 2017, five new Socimis debuted on the stock market with residential assets in their portfolio. In total, at the end of last year, 16 Socimis held rental homes in their portfolios, including, in addition to Fidere and Albirana, Vitruvio, VBare, Colón Vivienda and Domo.

In addition to the listed Socimis, other players in the sector include the real estate managers. One of the largest by volume of assets under management is Anticipa Real Estate, owned by Blackstone. Anticipa currently manages 12,000 homes proceeding from banks acquired by the fund during the crisis. Anticipa manages Albirana’s homes, amongst others.

Another star in the rental home manager sector in Spain is Azzam Vivienda – a subsidiary of Azora – which has more than 11,000 homes under management distributed across 140 buildings.

Azora, which will make its debut on the Madrid stock market on 11 May, plans to raise up to €500 million from its stock market debut to co-invest with its partners in various assets, including in the residential sector.

New players

The company founded by Concha Osácar and Fernando Gumuzio in 2003, was managing €1.5 billion in residential assets at the end of last year, which represented 33.4% of its total portfolio. It plans to increase its footprint in the sector to have between €1.3 billion and €1.6 billion under management by 2022 in homes, accommodation for the elderly and assets relating to healthcare.

Despite the increasing prominence of the rental sector, the business is still very fragmented and one of the challenges for the sector is to gain scale in order to compete. Juan Manuel Acosta, CEO of Greystar in Spain, said in an interview with Expansión in February that the US real estate investment firm is looking for opportunities to become one of the largest operators in the residential rental market in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake