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34 // iberian.propery / 2017
dossier// ISSUE: TOP IBERIAN Investors
The
«SAREB factor»
These figures exclude the
«SAREB factor»
, the entity that man-
ages assets originating from bank restructuring operations and
which, alone, currently has under management more than 40.93
billion euros in assets.
Created in 2012 within the scope of the Spanish government’s
Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) with Troika, this tool used
in the Spanish financial sector to face excessive exposure to the
property sector, absorbed approximately 200.000 real estate assets
amounting to 50.78 billion (80% credits & loans and 20% properties),
originating from portfolios of banks that, in exchange, received a
share in SAREB’s capital for the corresponding value.
Unlike the remaining entities included in this ranking, SAREB’s
mission is to disinvest and dispose of all assets in its portfoliowithin
15 years (until 2027), generating capital gains for its shareholders.
According to data provided to Iberian Property, in these first four
years, SAREB has already disposed of approximately 9.07 billion
euros in assets, making it one of the most prominent entities in
the real estate investment market in Spain.
Merlin: the largest asset buyer in the past year
In order to ascertain the most active entities to purchase real estate
investment assets in 2016/17, Iberian Property gathered a sample made
up of the 250 largest and most emblematic private operations that took
place in Spain and Portugal over the last eighteen months by 112 entities.
Altogether, these deals completed between January 2016 and May 2017
represent a total value of 13.43 billion euros.
The socimi Merlin Properties stood out as the most active investor during
this period, allocating 769.4 million euros, in other words, approximately
6% of the total. The North American asset manager CBRE Global Inves-
tors came next, with a 4% share, conducting investment operations at a
total value of 545.4 million euros. Both entities were quite active in Spain
and Portugal. This podium is completed by Foncière des Régions, the
French asset manager that, at the end of 2016, purchased from Merlin
a portfolio of 19 hotels in Spain for the total amount of 535 million euros.
According to Iberian Property, these three entities alone were responsi-
ble for a joint investment of 1.85 billion euros, in other words, 14% of the
total amount. Among the sample analysed, a total of 14 investors were
identified who allocated more than 250 million euros to the purchase of
real estate assets in Iberia since the beginning of 2016 (table 2).
6. 11 Eroski Supermarkets
and 2 commercial galeries
Size (m
2
)
136.000
Price
(million €)
358
Buyer
Invesco Real Estate
Seller
Gonuri Harizartean
(Eroski and Topland)
5. Parque Empresarial
Adequa
Size (m
2
)
75.000
Price
(million €)
380
Buyer
Merlin Properties
Seller
Lone Star Funds
7. Portfolio of non-strategic
real estate assets
Size (m
2
)
---
Price
(million €)
320
Buyer
Spanish Association of Rural
Savings Banks
Seller
Bantierra
Top transactions 2016 / 2017