ECI Sells 2 Assets in Madrid & Bilbao to Corpfin for €100M

3 August 2018 – Eje Prime

El Corte Inglés is continuing to divest property. The department store group, the largest in its sector in Europe, has closed the sale of two more properties, on prime streets in Madrid and Bilbao, to Corpfin Capital. The sale & leaseback operation has been closed with a gain of 40% with respect to the market value of the properties, at around €100 million.

Specifically, the group has divested its property at number 41 Calle Princesa in Madrid, which spans 11,400 m2 and whose market value is estimated to be around €18 million.

The company has also sold the building located at number 20 Gran Vía in Bilbao to the Spanish fund. That store has a surface area of 5,500 m2 and a market value of around €38 million.

Both properties have been on the market for two years, although the operation was closed off market. El Corte Inglés has signed a long-term lease contract with the new owner that, according to sources familiar with the operation, will charge rents that are 20% higher than the market average on both streets.

The Madrid-based group, chaired since June by Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, has framed this operation within its asset divestment plan to reduce the debt that has been weighing it down for several years. The company owns 92 centres in Spain.

El Corte Inglés has received offers for the purchase of some of its most profitable establishments, including those in Madrid, Barcelona and Marbella. One of those is Torre Titania, formerly the Windsor Building, in Madrid. At the other end of the spectrum, the department store giant owns several stores opened during the first few years of the crisis: almost 24 points of sale, most of which generate significant losses.

One of its most recent operations was closed in October, when the company sold a building in Sevilla to Stoneweg for €10 million, as reported by Eje Prime. The objective of the new owner is to convert that property into a hotel.

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

Translation: Carmel Drake

New Winds Group Buys Hearst’s HQ in Madrid from Patron Capital

26 January 2018 – Eje Prime

New operation in the office sector in Spain. New Winds Group, a real estate company controlled by Milagros Reyzábal, has purchased the building located at number 23 Calle Santa Engracia in Madrid from Patron Capital. The building is occupied by the communications company Hearst.

The acquisition forms part of the growth strategy of the New Winds Group, in its office real estate division, which is expected to continuing investing in similar buildings with a medium- and long-term value-added approach. Hearst has a rental contract that runs until 2025.

Patron Capital has been advised in this transaction by CBRE, and New Winds Group has received technical assistance from the Madrilenian architecture studio SML.

New Winds Group is a Madrilenian real estate company linked to the Reyzábal family; above all, it is known for being the owner of the Windsor building. In recent years, it has grown its property portfolio with the inclusion of shopping centres, such as in Montecarmelo in the capital of Spain, and office buildings.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

New Winds Group Buys Málaga Plaza Shopping Centre

31 March 2017 – Eje Prime

New Winds Group has purchased the Málaga Plaza Shopping Centre from Inversiones Igueldo. The asset, located in the financial and commercial heart of Málaga, has a gross leasable area of 6,600 m2, spread over three shopping floors and three underground floors containing 320 parking spaces.

The Málaga Plaza Shopping Centre was constructed in 1993 by the architect Ángel Asenjo and currently receives 3 million visitors per year. It is home to brands of the calibre of Burger King, FNAC, VivaGym and Primor, amongst others.

Over the next few months, New Winds Group will undertake an ambitious project to improve the shopping centre and will introduce new operators. Aguirre Newman has advised the divestment through an improvement in the occupancy rate and in the quality of the tenants and the subsequent sale at a profit.

New Winds Group is a Madrilenian real estate company linked to the Reyzábal family, known primarily for being the owner of the Windsor building. In recent years, it has acquired other shopping centres, such as Montecarmelo in the Spanish capital.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake