US-based investor Kennedy Wilson is strengthening its position in the European real estate sector with the takeover of a Spanish business.
US-based investor Kennedy Wilson is strengthening its position in the European real estate sector with the takeover of a Spanish business.
Kennedy Wilson has joined forces with private equity firm Värde Partners to acquire the real estate arm of lender Catalunya Bank for some €40 mln.
According to Spanish press reports, the two investors emerged ahead of 25 bidders to acquire CatalunyaCaixa Inmobiliaria, the manager of some €8.7 bn of assets in Spain.
CatalunyaCaixa Inmobiliaria employs 700 staff and manages around €6.7 bn of assets on behalf of Sareb, the Spanish bad bank.
Kennedy Wilson declined to comment on the deal.
CatalunyaCaixa is one of the troubled Spanish banks which were forced last year to transfer toxic assets to Sareb, in an effort to clean up their balance sheets. The Catalan bank is currently controlled by the Frob (Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring).
The deal represents the first major acquisition in Spain by California-based Kennedy Wilson and reflects the investor's ambitions to broaden its footprint in continental Europe.
The company established operations in Spain last year, when it opened an office in Madrid focusing on providing asset management services as well as managing residential auctions on behalf of Spanish cash-starved regional banks.
Minneapolis-based Värde made its first move into the Spanish market in 2011 with the purchase of a retail portfolio at a hefty discount. The package, consisting of four assets in Madrid, Mallorca and Pamplona, was acquired from APN European Retail Property Group, which is managed by Australia's APN Funds Management Limited, and its lender on the asset, Royal Bank of Scotland.
CatalunyaCaixa is the latest in a string of Spanish lenders seeking to sell their real estate activities to focus on their core business.
Bankia, Spain's third largest banking group, announced earlier this year that it is looking for a buyer for its property arm, which manages a €5.5 bn portfolio across the country.
The lender is understood to have short-listed private equity group Cerberus, New York-based private investor Centerbridge and Texas Pacific Group for a second round of talks on the sale of the Bankia Habitat unit. The transaction is expected to fetch some €120-150 mln.
The selected bidder will take control of the Bankia Habitat’s headquarters in Madrid and Valencia as well as be responsible for its managed portfolio consisting of real estate assets worth €2.9 bn and another €2.6 bn of development loans. Bankia Habitat employs around 500 staff.
