Amsterdam-listed property company Wereldhave has exited the Spanish market via a sale of its holdings to local REIT Axia Real Estate for €99.5 mln.

Amsterdam-listed property company Wereldhave has exited the Spanish market via a sale of its holdings to local REIT Axia Real Estate for €99.5 mln.

The transaction price reflects a yield of 6.8% and an 8.5% premium to the book value of the assets of €91.8 mln at 30 June 2014.

The agreement includes an additional earn out/profit share mechanism which could provide up to €2.5 mln extra to the vendor in the period 2014-2015.

The 78,000 m2 portfolio includes four assets which were marketed through a close bidding process; the Planetocio retail and leisure centre in Collado Villalba near Madrid, two modern office schemes at Avenida de la Vega 15 and Calle Fernando el Santo 15 whose tenants include US Group Cisco and a logistics centre located at Calle Mariano Benlliure 1-2 near Madrid. The occupancy rate in the portfolio is around 80% and the rental income is €6.7 mln.

The transaction will be completed in September 2014 and Wereldhave's management office in Madrid will subsequently be closed. incurring costs of about €1 mln.

Wereldhave has already withdrawn from the US and UK markets. The sale of the Spanish assets enables Wereldhave to further focus on mid-sized shopping centres in Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands and sustainable offices in Paris.

LIQUID MARKET
'The selling of the Wereldhave portfolio in a very tight time frame confirms the large liquidity of the Spanish market,' commented Adolfo Ramirez-Escudero, president of CBRE Spain which advised Wereldhave on the deal.

Ramirez-Escudero said that he expects 2014 to be 'a record year of activity' in the Spanish investment sector, which should be second in terms of volumes only to the peak year of 2007, when the market saw some €11 bn of assets change hands.

'Buyers cover various groups, from the well-known SOCIMIs (Spanish REITs) to investment funds and private investors from the Middle East and Asia,' he added.

AXIA
One of the first wave of Spanish REITs which started trading this year, Axia Real Estate has US banks JP Morgan and Citigroup as major shareholders. The company raised €360 mln in an initial public offering in July with the goal to invest the proceeds over the next 12 to 18 months, largely in offices (70%) and logistics assets (20%).

The deal with Wereldhave marks the second purchase for Axia in a month. In August, the Spanish REIT spent close to €53 mln on an office property and two logistics platforms in Spain.

In Madrid, the company purchased an office building for almost €29 mln from Germany’s IVG. Located in the city’s Alcobendas district, the property comprises 17,270 m2 of GLA and 396 parking spaces.

Axia also bought two logistics platforms located in Cabanillas del Campo (Guadalajara) and Dos Hermanas (Seville) from CBRE Global Investors for just under €24 mln.