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IHG vying for luxury hotels; UK chancellor pledges £1.7B for housing

* InterContinental Hotels Group PLC has joined forces with an unnamed property investor to take part in the race for the acquisition of the Principal Hotel Co., which owns the Principal and De Vere hotel brands. The hotel company is being sold by U.S.-based Starwood Capital Group in a £1.2 billion auction via UBS.

InterContinental and its partner are believed to be competing for Principal brand's 12 city center hotels, while property investment company Henderson Park is understood to be in the race for the entire hotel group, according to a report.

* U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has pledged a further £1.7 billion to fund the development of 26,000 affordable homes to drive up the total stock to more than 116,000 by the end of 2021-2022.

In his spring statement, the chancellor additionally noted that an agreement has been signed with the West Midlands for the construction of 215,000 new homes by 2030-2031, funded by a £100 million grant from the Land Remediation Fund. Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group's joint venture with the Housing Growth Partnership will be more than doubled to £220 million to financially support small homebuilders.

UK and Ireland

* Legal & General Group PLC spent £315 million, plus costs, to acquire the 52.1% stake that it did not already own in Cala Homes to take full ownership of the U.K.-based homebuilder via its Legal & General Capital unit. The total valuation of 100% of the equity in Cala was £605 million.

* The London Borough of Havering has teamed up with Wates Residential for a £1 billion joint venture that will carry out the regeneration of 12 council estates to deliver 3,112 homes in Havering over the next 12 years.

The council will receive a £33 million grant from the Greater London Authority to redevelop the estates, where 40% of the homes are set to be affordable.

* To invest in the U.K. industrial real estate sector, the California State Teachers' Retirement System has set up a £500.0 million separate account with Principal Real Estate Investors, called CP Logistics UK. The new account is a part of US$1.24 billion of new commitments approved by the pension fund targeting European real estate.

* Irish homebuilder Glenveagh Properties PLC said in its latest earnings report that it bought two land portfolios — Project Quattro and Project Town — for a sum of €106 million. The sites have the potential to accommodate 2,235 residential units across seven development project in Ireland, subject to planning approval.

* CLS Holdings PLC signed an unconditional agreement to buy the 129,060-square-foot, nine-story Harman House office property in Uxbridge, west London, for £51 million, at a net initial yield of 6.9%. The property is 98% occupied and generated an annual rental income of roughly £3.5 million.

* Developer Chancerygate is planning to expand its Satellite Park scheme in Oldham, U.K., with the addition of a new 105,000-square-foot, speculative industrial project, Property Week reported. The development will be carried out in a partnership with the Royal London insurance company.

* London's Financial Times featured a report on built-to-rent property developers in the U.K. targeting wealthy millennials over families, as investors are increasingly choosing to finance the development of luxury apartments over affordable homes.

Norway and Sweden

* Norges Bank Investment Management said in its latest report that Norway's sovereign wealth fund, considered to be the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, recorded a 7.5% return on its 2017 unlisted real estate investments, which had a net market value of 218.6 billion Norwegian kroner.

* Kungsleden AB acquired the 14-story STUDIO property in Malmo, Sweden, from Skanska for 1 billion Swedish kronor. The asset encompasses roughly 18,250 square meters of rentable space, and offers offices and a hotel, as well as public and social spaces.

* Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB will issue 250 million kronor of senior unsecured notes March 16, with a final maturity of more than three years. The notes bear a floating interest rate of three-month Stockholm Interbank Offered Rate plus 365 basis points.

* Union Investment Real Estate GmbH paid approximately €120 million to acquire the 18,000-square-meter U6 office asset in the Arenastaden office district of Solna, Sweden, from Fabege AB. The building, which is leased mostly to Siemens, was purchased for the Unilmmo: Europa open-ended real estate fund.

The Netherlands and France

* NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. agreed to a roughly US$190 million deal in February to sell the Maastoren office asset in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The deal is set to be completed in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.

* At the MIPIM real estate trade show in the French city of Cannes, Catella France and Knight Frank will seek buyers for a portfolio of Haussmann buildings in Paris' Triangle d'Or district, according to a release.

Romania

* A one million-square-meter, mixed-use sustainable project, dubbed Green Satellite, in Bucharest, is set to be revealed at the MIPIM exhibition, Property Investor Europe reported. The project, for which a development partner will be sought, includes retail centers, office spaces, residential units, and community buildings and leisure areas.

Germany

* Meanwhile, Catella Group's Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH purchased a turn-key apartment complex development comprising 347 units in Hamburg for approximately €43.5 million. The asset was purchased on behalf of the new Catella Modernes Wohnen fund.

Middle East

* Azizi Developments launched the Azizi Grand residential project in Dubai Sports City, and three new residential and commercial developments in the emirate's Meydan Avenue area, Arabian Business reported. Altogether, the projects are worth 750 million United Arab Emirates dirhams.

Azizi Grand will offer 431 apartments, while plans for the Azizi Gardens, Azizi Park Avenue and Azizi Greenfield projects include a total of 242 one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to the report.

The Daily Dose Europe, Real Estate edition, is updated as of 6:30 a.m. London time. Some links require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as of publication time.

Anusha Iyer contributed to this report.

As of March 13, US$1 was equivalent to 7.74 Norwegian kroner, 8.21 Swedish kronor and 3.67 United Arab Emirates dirhams.