Tag: Zaphir Asset Management

Savills IM: Inv’t of €500M per Year Until 2022 Following Purchase of Aguirre Newman

26 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) is getting its chequebook out in Spain. The fund manager of the real estate consultancy firm is looking for new investments in the country six months after integrating Zaphir Asset Management into its structure under the framework of the acquisition of Aguirre Newman by Savills. Savills IM’s plans involve investing €500 million per year in Spain until 2022.

According to explanations provided by Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Director of the Savills IM office in Spain, speaking to Eje Prime, the fund manager forecasts building an asset portfolio on the Iberian Peninsula worth €2 billion, up from its current value of €480 million.

The company is now starting an ambitious positioning strategy in Spain, “having completed the integration of Zaphir”. Ramírez de Haro, who leads Savills IM’s office following the corporate operation, served as the Director General of Zaphir since 2007. Savills announced the acquisition of Aguirre Newman in July last year, but the operation was not completed until December when Savills IM integrated Zaphir.

The company is currently analysing investments worth €750 million in Spain, although the group is also considering entering the Portuguese market. Even though in 2017, the company’s most active markets were the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, the forecasts of Ramírez de Haro indicate that Spain will become the fourth most important European market for the group, behind the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

Savills IM’s current portfolio in Spain comprises thirteen assets or projects. Half of them correspond to investments in offices, 25% to retail, 17% to residential and 7% to logistics, according to Ramírez de Haro. One of the most recent operations signed by the group was the purchase, in May, of a hypermarket operated by Eroski in San Sebastián for €48 million.

The executive maintains that the company is looking for opportunities across the four segments, especially in retail and offices. “I do not want to say that logistics is not important, it is and very much so, but it is the segment that is suffering from the most acute shortage in terms of supply”, he said. “In terms of retail, a negative vision is coming from the USA, but for us, that is not the case, provided you look for assets that are not so dependent on online sales, such as retail parks, high street stores, outlets and shopping centres linked to food”, he maintains.

Savills IM combines three types of operations: the first is the management of funds raised in Europe (especially in Germany): the second involves the mandates of global investors; and the third is to support value-added funds in their investments in Europe. Whilst in the first case, the average investment in terms of own funds is between €20 million and €80 million, international mandates tend to be upwards of €100 million and value-added operations typically range between €15 million and €100 million.

The fund manager has a workforce of sixteen people in Spain, fifteen of whom come from the former Zaphir structure and one from Savills IM. The group expects to have 22 employees in five years time.

On the global stage, Savills IM has a workforce of 300 employees and eighteen offices. In 2017, the group recorded transactions worth €5.5 billion: €4.5 billion in Europe and €1 billion in Asia. The company plans to spend €1 billion in own funds in 2018 for the acquisition of new assets in Europe and Asia.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo & P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

KF: Inv’t in Offices Amounted to €1.3bn & €0.8bn in Madrid & Barcelona, Respectively, in 2017

13 June 2018 – ABC

The performance of the office sector in Madrid at the end of 2017 bodes well for a “historical” 2018. That is according to all of the investment indicators managed by the real estate experts. Some very positive data for the region, which consolidates the Spanish capital’s position as the most attractive place for companies to locate their headquarters. In fact, it continues to be the greatest magnet for securing capital in the office market with a business volume of €1,324 million – 61% of the aggregated total – compared with €835 million in the Catalan capital. In terms of rented office space, 570,000 m2 was leased in Madrid, compared with 300,000 m2 in Barcelona.

Those are the findings of a recent report about the sector compiled by the consultancy firm Knight Frank, which forecasts greater activity in the sector in Madrid this year due to the rotation of assets by the Socimis and funds to fulfil their business plans. In Madrid, more than 40% of the total investment in 2017 involved funds, which, together with the Socimis outperformed other real estate players during the second half of last year.

The notable differences between the two regional capitals have increased as a result of the effects of the political instability caused by the independence drive and the decrease in tourism that has hit Cataluña. The experts consulted highlight that the rate of company creation has decreased in Cataluña since last summer, whilst in the Community of Madrid, the numbers have increased, with more than 185,000 companies registered with the Social Security at the beginning of 2018.

“The Spanish capital continues to be the key location due to its wide range of opportunities. Net absorption has been increasing for several years and rental prices are still very competitive in comparison with the main European centres”, explains Raúl Vicente, Director of Offices at Knight Frank. Nevertheless, the experts indicate the path that the city should take to become a “super city”. “In terms of the major challenges that it will have to overcome, they include mobility, adaptation to the technological revolution that we are living applied to the service of the city, efficiency, access to housing and an office supply that is commensurate with international demand, amongst others”, highlights the report.

The average price of offices in Madrid’s CBD has been rising in recent years. Prices in the capital now exceed €8,000/m2 on average, whilst in Barcelona, they amount to €6,900/m2. The highest price paid last year was for the former Barclays headquarters in Plaza de Colón, which was purchased from Barclays by CBRE Global Investors for €14,000/m2.

Other notable operations stand out including the purchase of Torre Serrano by Infinorsa and the sale of the Isla Chamartín Business Park to Tristan Capital and Zaphir Asset Management for €103 million. Also, the acquisition of the Palacio de Miraflores on the Carrera de San Jerónimo for €60 million by Remer Investment and of the Los Cubos building by Henderson Park and Therus Invest for €52 million (…).

Original story: ABC (by Adrián Delgado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tristan Capital Buys Manoteras Business Park For €103M

14 June 2017 – El Periódico

Tristan Capital Partners’ real estate fund, which recently launched the CCP 5 ‘Long-Life’ fund, has completed its first transaction with the acquisition of the Manoteras business complex for €103 million.

The business park is located on Avenida de Manoteras, in the A-1 corridor of Madrid, according to details provided by the company in a statement.

The Director of Investments at Tristan Capital Partners, Nikolay Velev, confirmed that “the first investment for the CCP 5 fund is a milestone for Tristan in Spain”. “It allows the core-plus fund to enter the dynamic office market in Madrid, where there is a significant imbalance between supply and demand, after six years of record lows”, he said.

The Manoteras business park comprises four buildings, which offer 38,200 m2 of Grade-A office space and 995 parking spaces.

Tristan’s fund has teamed up with Zaphir Asset Management, a subsidiary of Aguirre Newman, which has co-invested in the transaction.

Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Partner and Executive Director at Zaphir Asset Management, said that they are “very happy to have been appointed by CCP5 as the local operating partner responsible for managing the assets”.

“We are very active in this market and we are confident that the A-1 corridor offers a very good opportunity for sustainable rental growth, given that it is one of the most established CBD office markets in Madrid”, he said.

CCP5’s advisors in the transaction have been Aguirre Newman, JLL and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. CBRE, Knight Frank and Uria Menéndez advised Lone Star.

Original story: El Periódico

Translation: Carmel Drake

Alicante’s Shopping Centres: Musical Chairs

24 October 2016 – Valencia Plaza

The shopping centre map in Alicante and its metropolitan area is entering a new phase of transformation during which we can expect to see sales, changes in management, extensions and even the entry of new players into the market, in addition to the likely arrival of Ikea in the city.

And the first change may come before the end of 2016. It involves the sale of the complex led by Poniente’s platform, Panoramis, owned until now by the company Marina de Poniente, which is controlled by the constructor Enrique Ortiz following the departure of Vectalia in 2014. Eighteen years after the centre opened, the company has been forced to get down on its knees and file for liquidation, after failing to comply with the creditors’ agreement that it reached in 2012.

In July, Commercial Court number 1 authorised that an auction may be held for the business unit (in short, the concession to operate the property, owned by the Port Authority) with the aim of generating revenues to cover the debt. So far, up to four solvent investors have expressed their interest in submitting offers to take over the management and operation of the centre for 12 years with the option of extending that period for another 12 years. (…). The centre has 54 units and a multiplex cinema. (…).

In parallel, talks are underway regarding the ownership of the Puerta de Alicante shopping centre in the neighbourhood of La Florida. According to sources in the sector, the French group Klépierre – which has owned 83% of the shares since 2002 – has been sounding out its possible sale since the spring. (…). The complex has a surface area of more than 34,000 m2 spread over 74 retail premises and a cinema multiplex. According to information available on the website, only 28 of its units are currently occupied. The centre contains a Carrefour hypermarket and the French retailer controls the remaining 17% of the centre’s shares.

The third change is expected in the Gran Vía shopping centre, the first retail offering of its kind to open in the provincial capital (in 1998). Its owner, a fund linked to Deutsche Bank – RREEF Investment GMBH – is considering either a change in terms of its operation or the inclusion of new shareholders into its capital. (…). The complex contains 65 retail and restaurant spaces spread over three floors. The low turnout of spectators forced the centre to shut down its cinema screens, but the centre was recently remodelled and the firm Primark has now moved in, which is boosting activity once again.

In other developments, The Outlet Stores de San Vicente centre, the only outlet that specialises in out-of-season products in the whole province, is also undergoing changes. The fund Zaphir Asset Management took over its reins in 2013 after purchasing the asset from the German bank Eurohypo for €9 million. (…). The centre has a retail surface area of 36,500 m2 and contains 75 fashion, leisure and restaurant units, as well as a cinema complex. Its owner is now considering a future expansion, which could involve the construction of another 70 units during 2017. (…).

And finally, permission has been granted to facilitate the opening of an Ikea store in Rabasa (accompanied by land for between two and four retail outlets), the subsidiary of the Fuertes Group, Profusa, has set out plans to construct a shopping centre measuring around 40,000 sqm in the El Mesell area, in the municipality of El Campello (…), however, final approval is still pending.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake