The new year started with the forecast that real estate investment will grow by 26% in 2021 to 12 billion euros. Furthermore, during the first month of the year, several new directors were appointed to strengthen companies; and numerous domestic and international operations were announced. January confirmed that the build to rent segment is continuing to dominate the real estate agenda, along with the logistics and hotel sectors.
Companies
Without a doubt, the most important transaction so far this year has been Neinor’s purchase of Quabit, in a merger-by-absorption operation that has been under negotiation since the summer. The transaction values the assets of the resulting company at 2 billion euros.
Meanwhile, the property developer Vía Célere, which is controlled by various funds led by Värde Patrners, sold a batch of land in Sevilla to Culmia, formerly Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios (SDIN), for the construction of up to 226 homes. This is the largest land sale operation that Vía Célere has carried out in its history.
The investment fund Oakley Capital acquired a minority stake in the real estate portal Idealista for 175 million euros. In addition, Idealista acquired 100% of Rentger, a rental software company aimed at private and professional property owners, property managers and tenants.
Also, the Socimi Healthcare Activos closed the purchase of the El Serrallo nursing home in Granada. The asset has 143 beds and is operated by the company DomusVi under a long-term lease. Likewise, Swiss Life bought its first residence for the elderly in Spain from the company Real Deleite. In that case, the asset is located in Aranjuez and spans a surface area of 9,900 m2.
The Swedish firm EQT agreed to buy Philadelphia-based real estate investor Exeter Property Group for around USD 1.9 billion. Approximately USD 800 million will be paid in new shares and the rest in cash.
Residential
In terms of residential operations, the deal starring Grupo Lar, Primonial and Aedas stood out last month. The joint venture formed by the Spanish company and the French firm bought five build to rent projects from Aedas, comprising 655 homes. In total, Grupo Lar and Primonial will pay 120 million euros for the projects.
Alberto Muñoz, CEO of Inmobiliaria Espacio, explained to Brainsre.news that his company is going to invest 60 million in the construction of 10 projects comprising 240 homes during 2021. The developments are located in the provinces of Almería, Granada, Málaga, Alicante, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Valladolid.
As we head into 2021, the build to rent business is continuing to capture a lot of attention. In this sense, Aberdeen Standard Investments closed the purchase of a rental housing project in Madrid with Gestilar for almost 15 million euros. That project is located in Pozuelo de Alarcón.
The German giant Patrizia acquired a new residential building in the 22 @ district of Barcelona for 34 million euros. That build to rent building, promoted by Mimeisa Asset Management, spans a total buildable area of 7,054 square metres and contains 59 homes.
In addition, Solvia, Intrum’s real estate servicer, decided to fully enter the build to rent segment with the launch of a rental management service for owners of this type of property.
Logistics
The logistics segment looks set to continue its rise during 2021, attracting the attention of companies and investment funds alike. In this sense, the US fund Ares Management Corporation made its debut in the Spanish logistics segment with the purchase of five platforms for more than 50 million euros. This operation was the first in the firm’s plan, which involves acquiring logistics assets in Spain worth 250 million euros over the next two years.
The company GLP, an investment and logistics business development manager, has raised an additional 500 million euros for its pan-European logistics fund, GLP Europe Income Partners II, after its first closing on 29 September. The additional capital brings the total amount raised to around 1.6 billion euros
The real estate investment manager Barings is preparing investments in real estate assets in Europe worth 3 billion euros. Specifically, it is interested in logistics, office and residential operations.
Hotels
In January, it was revealed that hotel investment in 2020 amounted to 960 million euros, involving 77 hotel assets and more than 6,800 rooms, along with 2,000 future rooms in buildings to be converted, as well as plots and other projects, according to estimates from the consultancy CBRE.
Several operations were signed in the hotel market during the month. They included the fund manager ASG’s acquisition of the Nobu Hotel Barcelona from the Selenta Group chain, owned by Jordi Mestre. That purchase was closed for around 80 million euros.
Also in January, ActivumSG Capital Management, which operates in Spain through the manager ASG, bought the hotel operator Odyssey Hotel Group through its latest fund. With this operation, the ActivumSG Real Estate Fund VI will boost its activity in terms of future hotel investments as the manager of the Odyssey platform.
The Mossaic Hotel, located in Los Alcázares (Murcia), was acquired by a Hungarian investment fund for 9.3 million euros. This four-star establishment has 71 double rooms, three suites and 9 junior suites.
Retail
During the month, it was announced that several projects are underway in the retail sector. Batex & Duplex, the alliance formed by the commercial project manager Batex and the architecture and engineering studio Duplex ARQ Factory, said that it is going to invest 168 million euros in creating retail parks throughout Spain. It is currently working on 6 projects across the country.
The British fund Blackbrook is finalising its entry into the Spanish market and, to this end, is negotiating with Lar España regarding the purchase of a portfolio of supermarkets operated by Eroski. The fund wants to acquire the 22 retail spaces that the Socimi put up for sale in March, just before the beginning of the Covid outbreak.
Meanwhile, the tenants of Aena’s commercial premises are rebelling against the company. The airport manager has received a letter signed by dozens of companies, including the tenants of around 120 of its premises, stating that they reject the conditions offered by the public company and want to start negotiations with new conditions.
For its part, the company Unibail Rodamco Westfield (URW) and its tenants are also in a showdown over the rents of their shopping centres in Barcelona. The owner of the Glories, La Maquinista and Splau shopping centres is intending to charge its operators full rents “despite the closures and ignoring Decree Law 34/2020, dated 20 October, from the Generalitat” claim the retail tenants.
Offices
In January, Cushman & Wakefield announced that it expects an increase in the volume of office space rented in Spain this year. In addition, it predicts that 157,000 m2 of new space will be added to the existing stock in the Spanish capital and 210,000 m2 will be created in Barcelona over the next 12 months.
The group New Winds acquired an office building in the CBD of Málaga, whose main tenant is the Junta de Andalucía. The property, which is located on Avenida de la Aurora number 69, spans an area of 3,441 square metres.
The international management company IBA Capital Partners is finalising the renovation of the Node office building, with the execution of the renovation of its façade, after the internal space was refurbished by the studio AXIS Arquitectura. In total, the investment is estimated to amount to around 45 million euros.
NPLs
BBVA sold a portfolio of loans and real estate assets with a gross value of approximately 700 million euros to the investment fund KKR. The lot is made up of two types of loans – those with mortgage guarantees and those without – and foreclosed real estate assets, which were inherited from the former entity Unnim.
In addition, Abanca sold a portfolio of refinanced mortgages worth 250 million euros to the North American fund CarVal Investors. The entity chaired by Juan Carlos Escotet put the portfolio up for sale in the middle of last year, in a process known as Project Eume.
Top 10 most read news – January 2021
- Which Are the Areas of Madrid Where Homes Are Sold or Rented the Quickest?
- The Italian Real Estate Market in December
- The 50 Most Important Operations in the Spanish Real Estate Sector in 2020
- Spain’s Property Developer Ranking By Number of New Homes They Plan to Complete in 2021
- Neinor compra Quabit para crear un gigante inmobiliario de 2.000 millones de euros (in Spanish)
- CarVal Buys a €250 Million Portfolio of Refinanced Mortgages from Abanca
- Vía Célere Handed Over Almost 2,000 Homes in 2020, Up By 55%
- Omo Retail Finalises the Purchase of Two Commercial Plots in Madrid
- What Can We Expect From the Real Estate Sector in 2021?
- Movimiento de directivos en el sector inmobiliario (in Spanish)
Read the original article in Spanish.
