October 3rd, 2011
Restaura applies for voluntary insolvency proceedings following months of negotiations with its creditors and the search for new financial partners.
The limit to arrive at an agreement on the refinancing of its debt of close to €500m passed on Friday and Chairman and Founder of Restaura, Xavier Solano, who had found it impossible to secure the necessary support, had no option but to apply for voluntary insolvency proceedings.
Over the last year Restaura has managed to reduce its liabilities to €300m through the sale of buildings and it appeared that it might be able to overcome its debt problems. In November 2010 it sold three properties in Paris to the RLM fund of Luxembourg for €55m. This allowed it to cancel debt of €38.4m with BBVA, Banco Sabadell and the French entity BCME. The main debtor of Restaura is Banco Pastor, a Spanish bank.
Towards the end of 2010 the French firm Foncière Colbert Finance took 70 percent of the company. Although the transaction volume was not disclosed, it is understood that Colbert bought into the company for a symbolic amount, with a commitment to provide equity up to €25m to enable the company to resume development on a number of projects.
Colbert’s commitment was subject to the renegotiation of the bank debt. It was also subject to other conditions including achievement of a moratorium on interest payments for five years on those loans subject to guarantees. However, none of this was forthcoming and as a result Xavier Solano forced Colbert out of Restaura. No replacement was found and hence the company’s application for voluntary insolvency through the Barcelona courts.
For information on commercial real estate transactions in Spain contact | i-comparables.com
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September 24th, 2011
i-comparables.com seeks a Polish real estate professional or company to operate the brand in the territory of Poland. “Our aim is to become the leading provider of real estate data transactions information for commercial investment and owner occupier properties in Poland”.
Stan Dickens, owner of the i-comparables.com brand, commented “We see Poland as an ideal market for i-comparables.com to commence activities. It has a booming real estate investment sector and its economy is currently in far better shape than average for Europe”.
The database website, which is the leading supplier of transactions data in Spain, has been trading for four years. Dickens commented “By the beginning of 2012 we expect to be operational in at least two more European markets in addition to Poland. After four years of running our business in Spain we have gained considerable experience and knowledge. Our new franchisees will get the benefit of our experience and therefore avoid making some of the costly mistakes which we almost made as pioneers in this business”
The great advantage of joining forces with i-comparables.com as a franchisee is that there are virtually no start up costs. You get the use our brand, our database and website, 24 hour maintenance of the site by a team of web engineers, brand protection, free technical and marketing / sales advice and much more. We are looking for the following characteristics from our franchisees:
Independent
Professional and Ethical approach to business
Proactive with good local contacts
Real estate experience – consultancy, valuation or investment
If you would like to speak with i-comparables.com, in complete confidence, about becoming our exclusive franchisee in Poland, please contact us as follows:
Telephone: +34 914 471 700
Mobile: +34 610 418 654
email: stan@standickens.com
We aim to become the leading provider of information on commercial transactions of Polish properties within the next year. Want to join us? i-comparables.com Polska awaits!
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September 22nd, 2011
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels division strengthens its team in Spain with the promotion of Luis Arsuaga to the position of Nacional Director for the Iberian Peninsula.
SInce taking up his new post Arsuaga leads a team dedicated to the hotel property market. He has extensive experience of the hotel sector and previously as Director of the Hotels Department of CB Richard Ellis Madrid, where he commenced in 2002 taking responsibility for different roles in the areas of investment, valuations, hotels & leisure.
Arsuaga is a member of the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) in the area of Valuations.
For information on hotel transactions in Spain contact | i-comparables.com
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September 19th, 2011
“The great Spanish mortgage dream has turned into a nightmare”
Manuel Pardos, Chairman of the Association for Users of Banks, Savings Banks and Insurance Companies (ADICAE), has raised the alarm on the number of evictions in Spain for mortgage default which has reached the rate of 300 per day.
In a press conference in Alicante, Pardos released this statistic in order to support his organisations proposal for the approval of a Decree Law which would impose a three year moratorium on mortgage payments. He said this would benefit “more than a million families” in the whole country.
Pardos stated that on 25th August his association had submitted the proposed text to the Economic Office of the president of the Government and other ministers and parliamentary groups.
The objective of the decree would be to halt the current high rate of mortgage foreclosures and repossessions. “The great Spanish mortgage dream has turned into a nightmare”, complained Pardos who also referred to a collective demand presented by his association to more than 100 banking and financial entities for clauses relating to mortgaged land.
The initiative has been accepted by the commercial tribunal (number 11) in Madrid and 15,000 effected people have lent their names to it.
i-comparables.com
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September 16th, 2011
Atasa, the Professional Association of Valuation Companies in Spain, has released details of a Code of Measurement Practice which aims to meet the longstanding need for the homogenization of the measurement of floor areas”.
The code was made public in a presentation made on 15th September. Announcements were made by José Antonio López Torralba, Chairman of the Technical and Statistical Commission of Atasa, charged with editing the Standard; Gustavo Saiz, Chairman of Institutional Relations for the Commission; and Leandro Escobar, Managing Director of Atasa.
According to López Torralba, the Code of Measurement Practice “has emerged from the profound theoretical knowledge, wide practical experience and a long and continued effort by numerous technicians from many companies to synthesize a code coordinated through Atasa”.
The Code, “is intended to be a living document, and therefore, Atasa is already working on an extension for the correct application of the Code for distinct property types”, stated López Torralba.
For his part, Gustavo Saiz has emphasised the usefulness of the Standard for all agents which form part of the property markets in one form or other. Saiz also referred to the possibility of the Code being exported to other countries, since Tegova (The European Group of Valuation Associations) has adopted it as the basis for the elaboration of a European standard.
For information on Spanish commercial and investment real estate transactions and other market intelligence please contact: | i-comparables.com
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September 15th, 2011
Spanish car park business acquired by N+1 Private Equity
Madrid based N+1 Private Equity, one of Spain’s largest investment funds, has purchased the car park business which FCC, listed Spanish construction and property company, was selling as part of its divestment of non-core assets and businesses.
The purchased company, EYSA (Estacionamientos y Servicios), owns and manages more than 120,000 parking spaces in 60 Spanish cities. It also runs a vehicle tow and impoundment service in 18 municipalities. The sale marks the completion of FCC’s exit from the car parking business. In July 2010 it sold 31 underground car parks to the Mutua Madrileña insurance company for €120m.
For further information on this transaction and other transactions in the Spanish commercial real estate investment market please contact | i-comparables.com
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September 14th, 2011
According to Tinsa, the General IMIE index fell again in August to 1748 points, a year-on-year decline of 6.8%, continuing the trend of the last three months. The cumulative decline from the top of the market in December 2007 is now 23.5%.
This situation was also reflected in the market’s various segments, although “Capital and Major Cities” recorded a sharper year-on-year decline of 7.8%, followed by the “Mediterranean Coast” with 7.1%.
In the remaining areas, the decline in house prices was below the national average. In the “Metropolitan Areas” the year-on-year decline was 5.8%; in the “Balearic and Canary Islands” it was 4.9%; while the “Rest of Municipalities” it was 6.4%.
The cumulative declines to August from the top of the market, by area, were: “Mediterranean Coast” 29.2%, “Capital and Major Cities” 25.6%, “Metropolitan Areas” 23.4%, “Balearic and Canary Islands” 21.1%, and the “Rest of Municipalities” 20.4%.
Source: Tinsa
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September 14th, 2011
“The consultants are required to sell the buildings before the end of the year”.
According to Spanish business daily, ExpansiĂłn, a total of eight property agency companies have submitted bids for the tender process by the Generalitat (Catalunya Regional Government) for the sale of public buildings. Seven of these have passed the first round and one (AOS) failled the test.
Following the second round to be held next week, which will be of a legal nature, two property consultants will be chosen to sell the two property lots and the winners will be announced at the end of the month. One of the conditions neccessary to pass is to have annual invoicing in excess of €10 million.
According to sources close to the process, three consultants have beeb preselected for lot number 1: Cushman & Wakefield, Aguirre Newman y Colliers. The four which have opted for lot number 2 are CB Richard Ellis, Jones Lang LaSalle, BNP Paribas and Knight Frank. The two lots comprise thirteen buildings each and are valued at €221.8 million and €228.6 milliones. The chosen consultants are required to sell the buildings before the end of the year.
For more information on commercial investment transaction in Spain contact | i-comparables.com
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September 12th, 2011
We couldn’t agree more!
Many of Spain’s Autonomous Regions and Provincies are attempting to sell real estate assets on sale and leaseback terms although some are also offering properties subject to vacant possession. According to the El Confidencial Spanish online news site the Spanish public administrations have commenced selling their buildings two years too late. The article, which quoted i-comparables.com as a source, was based on interviews with various leading international and Spanish real estate consultants. For the complete article in Spanish please click on the following link: ElConfidencial.com. We agree with the article completely.
For information on commercial and investment real estate transactions in Spain contact | i-comparables.com
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September 12th, 2011
Jones Lang LaSalle nominates two new National Directors in its Madrid office
Property consultancy company Jones Lang LaSalle has strengthened the areas of Property Management and Corporate Solutions with two new National Directors in its Madrid office. Elisa Navarro current Director of the Department of Investor Property Management and Borja Basa Director of Corporate Solutions have taken up new professional challenges in the company.
For information on commercial real estate transactions in Spain contact: | www.i-comparables.com
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