Amancio Ortega returns to the Spanish real estate sector 31 months after his last purchase

2023-12-27 10:22:16

Almost three years, 31 months, it has taken Amancio Ortega to make an investment again in the Spanish real estate sector. Although the news of the acquisition of two hotels in the Balearic Islands, —advanced by the Diario de Mallorca, from the same group as La Opinión A Coruña, from the Prensa Ibérica group— was known on Christmas Eve, the transaction took place last summer. The operation was completed in July when its former owner, Genova Property Group, announced the sale of the Concepció by Nobis and Nobis Palma hotels for 35 million. The name of the buyer had not been revealed. Until now.

Although the founder of Inditex once again makes a purchase of a property on Spanish soil almost three years after the last, it is a minor operation. The 35 million that it has paid for the two establishments are very far from the investments it usually makes. The last time it acquired a real estate asset in Spain was in December 2020. It was also a hotel, in this case the Senator Playaballena, located in the Cadiz town of Rota. He paid 25 million. Again, a smaller number.

25 purchases in three years

Since then, it has made 25 purchases: 21 of them have been more than three digits (more than 100 million). For example, the 500 million he paid for a skyscraper of luxury apartments in Manhattan (New York) stand out. Also above 500 is the iconic Royal Bank Plaza office skyscraper in Toronto (Canada) that it acquired in January of last year for 843 or the seven large logistics centers in six different US states that it bought in July of that same year after pay 900 million.

Both the Senator Playaballena hotel in Cádiz and the two establishments recently added to its Spanish real estate portfolio are minor movements. For example, in 2011 he bought the Picasso Tower and in 2016 the Cepsa Tower, both in Madrid, for 400 and 490 million, respectively, very far from the 25 and 35 that he paid for the hotel in Cádiz and the two in Mallorca.

In these three years, Most of its investments have been outside of Spain.. Of the 25 operations, five have occurred on national soil, and all five have occurred in the renewable energy sector.

In July 2021 it acquired 5% of Red Eléctrica for 456 million and in November, 49% of a wind complex in Zaragoza from Repsol for 245 million. In 2022 it made two other investments in renewables. Also in July it acquired 5% of Enagás Renovable for 3.5 million and 49% of Repsol’s Kappa photovoltaic complex in Ciudad Real for 27 million. Its fifth and last purchase in the renewable sector on Spanish soil since the end of 2020 occurred last November when it acquired a 49% stake in Repsol’s renewable assets spread across Spain for 363 million. It is the largest investment of the current year. In the 22 operations it has carried out in 2022 and 2023, 3,118 million have been spent. Only 13% have been on national soil and 68% in the United States.

Why don’t you invest more?

The answer to the question of why Amancio Ortega does not invest more in the Spanish real estate sector was given at the beginning of the year by Roberto Cibeira, the CEO of Pontegadea, the investment arm of the largest shareholder of Inditex. In one of the few public appearances he attributed this strategy to the high prices of Spanish real estate and the presence of large competitors (real estate and funds) in the national market. Despite everything, he acknowledged that if there were price cuts they would be alert because the Spanish real estate sector continues to interest them. “We haven’t done any big operations for years. [en España], although we have made small ones. If a price adjustment occurs, we will have to see how much it is and in what period,” Cibeira assured. “In Spain we always look at things. If we find something that meets our criteria, we will invest,” stated the CEO of Pontegadea.

The Amancio Ortega’s real estate portfolio began to take shape in 2002. At first in Spain and later abroad. The first acquisition that he made under the Pontegadea umbrella (created in June 2001, 15 days after Inditex’s IPO) was in February 2002, when he confirmed the purchase of four hotels in the NH chain. He paid 15.2 billion old pesetas (91.4 million euros).