The sale process of Torre Titania, owned by El Corte Inglés and current headquarters of EY, has whetted the appetite of investors and is progressing at a good pace. Several potential buyers have already shown interest to the department store group in acquiring this asset located next to the department store group’s Nuevos Ministerios store in Madrid.
Among those interested in acquiring the property is J. P. Morgan, through one of its real estate funds, and some family investor, according to sources from the real estate sector. The bank has also studied the operation Credit Suissein this case associated with the Colonial socimi, which would act as investment and asset manager.
The first non-binding bids received by El Corte Inglés are around 230 million euros, although it is foreseeable that they can be improved when the time comes to present a binding offer. These latest bids are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and it is not ruled out that there are more interested parties in the asset.
This sale is part of the sale process opened by the group chaired by Marta Álvarez to dispose of non-strategic assets for around 700 million. as advanced Five days In February, El Corte Inglés mobilized several real estate consultants to look for buyers. Among those properties, it also intends to dispose of an asset retail in the Puerta del Sol; another in Portal de l’Àngel (the most expensive shopping street in Barcelona); a store located on Calle Orense in Madrid; a piece of land located on Calle Alfonso Gómez, in the Julián Camarillo area of the capital, and an office building in Alberto Bosch (near the Prado Museum), where the offices of Viajes El Corte Inglés are located. The Titania transaction counts as advisers with real estate consultants CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield.
One of the peculiarities of the transfer of this tower is that it forms part of a joint venture with the Nuevos Ministerios store of El Corte Inglés. In fact, the first six floors correspond to the department stores. For this reason, the group has commissioned the office Uria Menendez to be in charge of drawing up a legal pact to form a community of owners. In that agreement, for example, the case of facades (advertising uses) or independent accesses to office floors could be specified.
After the first signs of interest, El Corte Inglés expects binding offers in the coming weeks. From JP Morgan they respond to this newspaper that they do not comment on the information and, for its part, a spokesperson for Colonial answers that the socimi has not submitted an offer.
Titania was built on the site of the disappeared Windsor building, burned down in 2005. Since 2017 it has been the corporate headquarters of the EY consulting firm, which occupies its 11 floors and 20,000 square meters. The US firm has a lease agreement until 2025. Investors’ appetite is whetted because Titania is located in Azca, one of the capital’s prime office areas, and where very few assets are for sale, in addition to being the newest property in the area.
first offers
This is one of the jewels in the crown of the real estate heritage of El Corte Inglés. The group excluded it from previous real estate sale processes, but already in the fall it probed its transfer. Then, firms such as Generali, Alba Financial Corporation and Emperor (Andre L. Tan) showed interest, according to sources in the real estate sector. Finally, El Corte Inglés commissioned Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE to structure the process.
Torre Titania is included in the balance sheet of Asón Inmobiliaria de Arremientos, one of the real estate subsidiaries of El Corte Inglés. The entry of EY as the sole tenant marked a before and after in the accounts of this company. In 2016, his income was 3.8 million. In 2017, the year in which EY opened its offices, it exceeded 10 million. In 2018 it reached 12 million and in 2019 it was close to 13. The market puts the price paid by EY at around 34 euros per square meter, which would result in an annual income of close to eight million.
The next owner of Torre Titania will have, among one of his first tasks, negotiating the rental contract with EY, which expires in 2025. And in addition, he will have competition a few meters away in the office market, with El Corte Inglés as the protagonist.
By then, the distribution group expects to have completed the construction of Castellana 69, the building designed by the London architecture studio Heatherwick and which will be built on the old parking lot of the Nuevos Ministerios station, whose land it acquired from Adif for 136 million. This will have a surface area of 15,000 square metres, and El Corte Inglés will act as a promoter to rent these offices to third parties. Barely 200 meters separate Torre Titania from Castellana 69.
A real estate portfolio of more than 16,000 million
According to the data provided by the company, during the past year it closed nine department stores and two Hipercor. In recent weeks, the closure of a commercial premises in Valencia, another on Bilbao’s Gran Vía, and the centers located in La Vaguada and Parquesur, together with the closure of the store focused on men’s fashion located at number 52 Serrano street. It has also transformed some stores into outlets, such as the one in the Arapiles neighborhood, also in Madrid.
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