S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of European real estate news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that may require a subscription.
Earnings in full swing
* Recurring net income at Paris-based Foncière des Régions totaled €391.2 million in 2017, a 10% year-over-rise from €356.2 million. Recurring net income per share increased 1% to €5.31.
* French property investor and developer Icade reported a 193.9% surge in net profit attributable to the group to €170.3 million in 2017, from €58.0 million in the prior year.
* Also in France, Carmila SA logged €182.9 million in recurring earnings for 2017, up 6.2% from 2016 and ahead of its target of between €175 million and €180 million. EPS for the period totaled €2.63, down from €2.85 a year earlier.
* In Dubai, developer Emaar Properties PJSC's unaudited net profit increased 9% year over year to 5.70 billion United Arab Emirates dirhams in 2017 from 5.23 billion dirhams. The company reported revenue of 18.81 billion dirhams, a 21% jump from 2016.
* Emaar Malls PJSC recorded an 11% uptick in its full-year net profit to 2.08 billion dirhams from 1.87 billion dirhams in 2016. The company's revenue amounted to 3.63 billion dirhams, up from 3.23 billion dirhams a year earlier.
* Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties PJSC saw its full-year 2017 profit decline 26.9% to 2.01 billion dirhams from 2.75 billion dirhams following a 3% value adjustment to its asset management portfolio.
No more mixing business with vacation
* U.S.-based hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide Corp. is selling its European vacation rental business to Platinum Equity for around $1.3 billion. Following completion of the deal, expected to take place in the second quarter, private equity firm Platinum will gain ownership of over 110,000 units across more than 600 destinations.
Crossing borders
* Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is poised to make its first acquisition in the serviced apartments sector through the purchase of Oaktree Capital Management's SACO business for £430 million, Property Week reported. SACO's portfolio comprises 39 U.K. properties, with nine freehold properties under the Locke brand and 30 leasehold properties under the SACO brand.
* Cofinimmo SA is selling a 99-year leasehold of two office buildings in Brussels' central business district for €369.5 million in a private deal to an investment vehicle established by an unnamed South Korean financial institution.
Egmont Luxemburg Sarl is buying the 36,616-square-meter Egmont I and the 16,262-square-meter Egmont II assets, which were developed to house the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Cooperation Development.
Multimillion-pound deals
* Capital & Counties Properties Plc confirmed media reports that it is in talks for the sale of its London-located Empress State Building with the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the asset's occupant. Property Week had reported Feb. 15 that the company was nearing the sale of the 31-story tower for a price understood to be in the region of £240 million.
* Developer Strawberry Star plc agreed to buy a £260 million mixed-use development project in Luton, U.K. The 6.9-acre project includes 685 homes, a 200-bedroom hotel and a medical and wellness center, among other facilities.
M&A merry-go-round
* The management and supervisory boards of BUWOG AG are recommending that shareholders accept Vonovia SE's tender offer for the company's outstanding shares and convertible bonds. The Austrian real estate company deemed the €29.05-per-share offer to be significantly higher than the shares' unaffected and historical weighted average prices over the last two years.
* The proposed merger of ANF Immobilier into Icade is forging ahead with unanimous approval from the supervisory and management boards of the former and the board of directors of the latter. Under the indicative merger ratio range, ANF shareholders will receive 0.25 to 0.30 Icade shares per ANF share.
* At separate meetings, two Blackstone Group LP vehicles landed approval for their €260 million offer to buy Taliesin Property Fund Ltd. Blackstone's Wren Bidco Ltd. and Canary Bidco Ltd. are set to acquire the Jersey-based investment company's entire issued ordinary share capital for €51 per scheme share.
IPO goals
* Cerberus Capital Management LP is planning an IPO of Spanish real estate firm Haya at a potential company valuation of around €1.1 billion, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The IPO is slated for May.
* Core Industrial REIT is seeking a double listing in March to raise as much as €225 million from an IPO on Dublin's Enterprise Securities Market and London's Alternative Investment Market.
Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Keeping It Real Estate: Central Paris feels the squeeze as large firms commit to France's resurgence
Keeping It Real Estate: Uncertainty over Paris Metro expansion puts brakes on hungry property investors
Foncière des Régions commits to coworking push as sector 'shifts toward service'
Icade's largest shareholder still planning for future with company, says CEO
SEGRO builds on close ties with Amazon
As of Feb. 15, US$1 was equivalent to 3.67 United Arab Emirates dirhams.
Amisha Mehta contributed to this report.