May was a hectic month in the real estate sector. On the one hand, large residential players, such as Neinor Homes and Nuveen Real Estate, opened the door to reducing their weight in the build-to-rent segment.
On the other hand, hotels and shopping centres were two of the most transacted asset types during the month. Meanwhile, the CNMV gave its approval to FCC’s takeover bid for Metrovacesa. Also, in the logistics sector, the main players in the market closed numerous land purchases.
Market
In May, house sales data was published for the first quarter. In total, 164,299 house sales were recorded in Q1, up by 14% compared to the same period last year. New-build house sales are growing at similar rates to second-hand ones. Also, 43,378 mortgages were granted in March, up by 18% YoY.
Despite the good news, inflationary pressure, and the resultant rise in construction costs, means that fewer new construction permits are expected to be granted in 2022 than in 2021, according to the property developers.
Companies
Undoubtedly, the news of the month, and perhaps of the year, was Carlos Slim’s takeover bid for 24% of Metrovacesa. The operation has been approved by the CNMV and will be valid until 14 June. FCC will invest up to 262 million euros to acquire a 30% position in the property developer. According to market estimates, the main shareholders will not participate and so FCC may not fully complete its takeover bid.
In terms of annual results, the property developer Aedas Homes announced the best revenue and profit figures in its history. The company led by David Martínez earned more than 93 million euros in its financial year 2021/22. Also, Grupo Lar improved its turnover compared to 2020, with its results exceeding recorded in the years prior to the pandemic. The company’s portfolio exceeds 3,669 million euros.
In terms of quarterly results, corresponding to the first three months of the year, Vía Célere recorded revenues of 162 million euros and a net profit of 21.4 million euros. Meanwhile, Metrovacesa generated a turnover of 141.1 million euros and a record pre-sales figure. Lastly, Lar España saw a slight reduction in its income and net profit.
Mutualidad de la Abogacía bought 15% of the Socimi Advero, after investing 6.5 million euros. Also, the insurer acquired a 5% stake in the Socimi Millenium thanks to that firm’s recent capital increase.
Finally, the proptech Housfy closed a financing round amounting to 30 million euros, which will be used to develop the platform, with the aim of continuing to improve the user experience and integrate new services.
Residential
The living sector captured a total investment of 1.135 billion euros during the first quarter of 2022. That figure represented a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2020.
In May, Neinor Homes confirmed that it had hired the consulting firm Savills to try to sell part of its build-to-rent portfolio. This process could affect up to 1,500 of its homes, but the listed company has not made a final decision yet.
Nuveen Real Estate, another of the big residential rental players, through its Stay platform, announced that it intends to bring in a third partner, which will allow it to make a partial exit.
Despite numerous rumours of exits by other investors, the majority are forging ahead with their plans. For example, Catella Asset Management closed the acquisition of 281 build-to-rent homes in Valencia from AQ Acentor for 66 million euros.
In terms of large projects, Amenabar launched its second promotion in La Moraleja, an exclusive complex comprising single-family homes. Also, Dazia Capital bought a plot of land, in the Atocha area where it is going to develop a residential complex made up of 30 luxury homes.
The Community of Madrid is already preparing to launch the second phase of its Vive Plan. On this occasion, it is studying an extension to the terms of the concessions and plans to use the Next Generation Funds to support the development of land with less investment interest.
Offices
Investment in offices amounted to 600 million euros during the first quarter of the year. And that figure could rise to 3.5 billion by the end of the year.
The largest operation of the month was carried out by Ibervalles, with its purchase of two properties in Madrid from Colonial. The Socimi, which will debut on the BME Growth in the summer, is going to renovate and reposition the assets it acquired on Josefa Valcárcel 24 and Alcalá 506.
The French subsidiary of the Swiss Life Asset Managers group acquired an office building spanning more than 3,500 square meters, through one of its funds dedicated to the French insurer MAIF Group, from a German investment group.
Stoneshield, the fund owned by former Lone Star directors Juan Pepa and Felipe Morenés, bought three office buildings in the north of Madrid: Cardenal Herrera Oria 3, Lezama 20 and Labastida 9-11, which together span a total surface area of 9,300 square meters.
The investor Antonio Revilla bought some offices in the Barrio de Salamanca from Azora for 15 million euros.
Beyond Madrid, the Socimi Trajano closed the sale of an office building in Bilbao for 42 million euros to a local family office. The property spans almost 9,000 square meters.
In terms of assets on the market, Globalia put its real estate portfolio up for sale, which includes its current offices in the Madrilenian town of Pozuelo de Alarcón. Also, the Hernández-Beitia family put their Gorbea 5 building on the market for 70 million euros, in a sale process organized by JLL.
Stoneshield is pushing ahead with the development of a large multipurpose complex spanning 60,000 square meters in Tres Cantos. The fund has decided to invest more than 200 million euros in the construction of 15 buildings in the Madrilenian town.
Commercial
The shopping centre manager Carmila closed the acquisition of the La Rosaleda Shopping Center for 24.6 million euros from the Hispania Retail Property joint venture, made up of Grupo Lar, the American hedge fund Baupost and the British manager Greenoak.
Also, AEW bought the Alcora Plaza Shopping Park, located in Parque Oeste in Alcorcón, from Goldman Sachs. It has a GLA of 22,000 square meters and is home to 14 stores.
On the high street, Mutualidad de la Abogacía closed the acquisition of a commercial building, specifically, Calle Preciados 4 in Madrid, from Patrizia. The price of the operation has not been disclosed.
The Granada-based family office MP Capital acquired its third business premises in San Sebastian in less than a year. That operation was closed for 3 million euros.
In the supermarket segment, MDSR bought two portfolios, namely: 9 Carrefour supermarkets from Amundi for 180 million euros and a portfolio of supermarkets in Barcelona from Barings.
In terms of new projects, the Belgian company Equilis began the construction of its new commercial park in Fuenlabrada. The new development includes the construction of an area spanning 26,000 square meters comprising shops, leisure facilities, restaurants and a hotel. In addition, the complex will feature a student residence with 600 rooms next to the commercial area.
Hotels
During the first quarter of 2022, investment in the hotel segment exceeded 1 billion euros. In addition, forecasts indicate that the total figure for the year will exceed the 2 billion euros to 3 billion euros average of the historical series.
In the second fortnight of May, various potential operations and asset sales were announced to the market. One of the most significant, Stoneweg’s interest in the Hotel Miguel Ángel in Madrid, owned by the British-Iraqi businessman Nadhmi Auchi. Despite the initial contact, the operation looks to be very complicated.
By size of the operation, the Canadian firm Brookfield paid 175 million euros for the Hotel Madrid Princesa, which has more than 400 rooms and is located in the centre of the Spanish capital.
KKR and Dunas Capital put up for sale five hotels in the Balearic Islands for 140 million euros. The joint venture bought the portfolio in 2017 for 100 million euros.
The Spanish manager Azora closed a new operation in Portugal, the purchase of the luxury Hotel Pestana Blue Alvor, in the Algarve, a complex comprising 500 rooms and spanning 120,000 square meters.
Zetland Capital closed the acquisition of the Hotel Don Juan Center, in an operation advised by EY. The asset has more than 200 rooms and is located close to the city centre and the coast.
The last complex transacted in May was the Hotel Florida Norte, for which Round Hill will pay 80 million euros to Grupo Faranda, owned by the Fernández Hoyos family. In this case, the fund will transform the asset into a student residence.
Industrial & Logistics
In May, Montepino closed a capital increase amounting to 250 million euros, which will allow it to continue expanding its portfolio. One of its investments using the cash injection will be a new logistics warehouse in Zaragoza, in which it will invest more than 150 million euros.
In terms of divestments, Patrizia put two warehouses from its portfolio up for sale for 110 million euros. Meanwhile, Iroko Zen bought two properties in Jaén and Huelva; and Desyman acquired an industrial warehouse spanning 11,500 square meters in Sant Boi de Llobregat.
The American property developer Trammell Crow Company made its debut in Spain with the acquisition of three plots of land in Barcelona and Guadalajara. In total, it has incorporated almost 175,000 square meters of land into its portfolio.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, bought a logistics plot, located in Sant Quirze del Vallès, from Cobega. GIC spent 25 million euros on the site, on which it will build a logistics platform spanning up to 33,000 square meters.
The logistics property developer GLP acquired two new plots in Constantí (Tarragona) and Masquefa (Barcelona). Together they comprise 52,345 square meters of finalist land and will be available from the second quarter of 2023.
Student residences
At the end of May, Barcelona City Council approved a modification to the city’s General Metropolitan Plan to regulate increases in the number of private student residences on community land in recent years.
In terms of corporate operations, Patrizia made its first foray into this segment with the purchase of The Student Hotel platform, including its two assets, for 110 million euros.
Stoneshield bought three buildings that are going to be used as student residences in the north of Madrid; and Grupo Vita is in negotiations with Metrovacesa to buy two of the assets in its urban project on the site of the former Clesa factory, which will be used for this purpose.
In terms of new projects, Grupo Moraval is going to develop a new student residence in Zaragoza and Student Experience is going to build another in Granada.
Nursing homes
Thor was awarded the tender to build a general hospital and nursing home for the elderly in Tarragona, in a project whose investment is expected to exceed 60 million euros.
Azora bought a senior living complex in Benidorm and the German company The Flag announced that it is going to promote another one in Málaga, which will be its first asset of this type in Spain. Also, Urbas acquired Fortia Healthcare, with the intention of creating a leader in the senior living business.
In new projects, Healthcare Activos is going to promote two nursing homes for the elderly, one in Córdoba and another in Sabadell. Its counterpart Cofinimmo is also going to build one in the same Andalucían city.
NPLs and REOs
Banco Santander presented its new servicer Diglo to the market. The new entity will be charged with the management and sale of toxic assets and its first assignment will be the management of a portfolio spun off from Aliseda. The company will have 150 employees.
Also in May, Servihabitat began the management of Kutxabank’s assets. The servicer took over the reins after being awarded the management of the portfolio in 2021. The portfolio is made up of 9,000 real estate assets, with a value of more than 1.1 billion euros, mainly located in Andalucía and the Basque Country. Servihabitat will manage the portfolio for the next 5 years.
Read the original article in Spanish.
