Bain Capital is believed to have emerged ahead of rivals Oaktree and Apollo in the bid to acquire the residential builder, which owns some 2.5 million m2 of land in Spain and has one of the country's largest portfolios of new homes under development (1,072 units).
The company is active in the areas of Madrid, Catalunya, the Canary islands, Andalusia and Valencia.
Habitat was the second-largest residential developer in Spain at the peak of the market. In 2007 it fuelled its acquisition of Ferrovial's real estate division with €2 bn of debt and was forced to file for administration a year later.
The company reached a debt-for-equity swap agreement with its creditor banks in 2010.
Bain Capital said the deal gives 'an important boost to Habitat’s leading position in Spain’s residential development market'.
Bain Capital Credit has built a significant position in Spain, where it has acquired non-performing loans, leases and real estate valued at more than €3.5 bn since 2014. The company said that it plans to create a large real estate platform around the Habitat business.
Bain Capital Credit announced in October 2017 that it is the majority owner of a JV that controls and manages a portfolio of repossessed real estate assets from Liberbank. Bain Capital Credit began buying non-performing loans, leases and real estate assets in Europe in 2011 and has since acquired assets in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and the UK.
'We believe Spain is one of the most attractive NPL and real estate markets in Europe and Habitat’s sizeable land plots in major cities are a great opportunity to expand our footprint in the residential development sector,' said Fabio Longo, a managing director and dead of Bain Capital Credit’s European non-performing loan & real estate business. 'We see the potential for continued investment in Spain, particularly in the real estate and non-performing loan markets.'
'We plan to significantly increase our rate of delivery in the coming years to meet the high level of demand as the Spanish economy continues to recover strongly,' added Eduardo Carreño, general manager of Habitat.
'This is an exciting combination of the financial strength of Bain Capital Credit with the substantial expertise of Habitat Inmobiliaria,' said Brad Palmer, managing director and head of European Portfolio Operations at Bain Capital Credit. 'Our joint experience of sourcing land and development projects will allow us to re-build a major national developer.'
