20th Jun 2007 07:00
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA19 June 2007 Gmp buys the BBVA Tower at Castellana 81 BBVA buys the Foresta Business Park from Gmp, where it will develop its new Corporate Center in Madrid • In 2010 the Bank will start moving its 6,500 staff in Madrid to the new Corporate Center • The Gmp real estate group strengthens its property portfolio in downtown Madrid with four buildings located at Castellana 81, Alcala 16, Goya 14 and Hortaleza-Via de los Poblados • The Bank will retain the exclusive right to display its signs on the Castellana 81 Tower for 20 years, and will keep its branches in this building and in Goya 14 and Alcala 16 • With this acquisition, Gmp consolidates a portfolio with over 363,482 m2 of offices in operation in Madrid • BBVA obtains gross capital gains of approximately €300m with the sale of these four buildings in Madrid • The new BBVA Corporate Center will be located on the A-I, one of the newly developed areas in the city of Madrid, 2 km from Plaza Castilla and easily accessible by public transport and by road • The BBVA Corporate Center, which will extend over some 100,000 square meters and include several buildings, breaks with the closed campus concept and with the skyscraper model • BBVA will achieve annual savings of 32% in its current real estate operating expenses in Madrid after investing over €700m in a project which offers high property liquidity Under an agreement signed today by BBVA and Gmp, the Bank will purchase theForesta Business Park, located in a newly developed area in the north of Madrid,where it will build a new Corporate Center for its 6,500 staff in Madrid as of2010, which will result in considerable cost savings (32% a year) and asignificant improvement in work spaces. In turn, the real estate firm Gmp willbuy some of the Group's main buildings in Madrid, including the BBVA Tower atCastellana 81, which will nevertheless retain the BBVA signs and a branchoffice. With this operation, Gmp strengthens and diversifies its propertyportfolio with new and distinctive buildings in the center of the capital. This operation, which is awaiting various administrative authorizations andformalities, represents a significant change with regard to the currentsituation of BBVA in Madrid. The Bank's 6,500 employees in Madrid are currentlydispersed in more than 10 buildings but will start the move to the new CorporateCenter in 2010. BBVA: a bespoke project offering high property liquidity The project meets the conditions set out by the Bank when it considered thevarious options available. The new BBVA Corporate Center on the A-1, which willextend over some 100,000 m2 and include several buildings, is easily accessibleby public transport and by road in a completely developed area, 2 km from PlazaCastilla and a few minutes from the center of the city and the airport. It is also based on a horizontal and flexible approach which represents adeparture from the closed campus concept and the skyscraper model. Unlike thecurrent situation and other proposals available on the market, this providestotal property liquidity, meaning that each of the buildings on the Park may besold or rented out separately. Under the agreement signed with Gmp, BBVA will purchase the plot that wasoriginally intended for the well-known Foresta Business Park, which is underconstruction. Once it has been purchased, the Bank will define its own bespokeproject on the land, although it may make use of the buildings being erected. CBRichard Ellis and Lovells have given professional advice to BBVA on the entireoperation, including the location of the building land and the due diligenceprocess. The total investment expected for the project will exceed €700m, including thepurchase of the Business Park in its present state, the definition of a newbespoke project for BBVA, and the construction and fitting of the Center'sbuildings. With this project, the Bank will clearly improve its efficiency andproductivity, since the existence of more than 10 buildings represented aconsiderable cost in terms of staff commuting time, not to mention the greaterdifficulty and inconvenience in their day-to-day work. The project will also result in significant cost savings in real estate inMadrid. Without factoring in the current cost in staff commuting time, theproject represents annual savings of 32% in property operating expenses. In short, with this change BBVA will put an end to the dispersion of its staffin more than 10 buildings with a solution that will be convenient for theemployees, efficient for the Bank and flexible from the real estate perspective,offering total liquidity. Gmp has signed an agreement to purchase four distinctive buildings from the Bankat Castellana 81, Alcala 16, Goya 14 and Hortaleza-Via de los Poblados. AtCastellana 81, BBVA will keep the exclusive right to display its signs on thetop of the Tower for 20 years. And the branch offices in this building and inGoya and Alcala will continue to serve the Bank's customers. The sale of these four buildings will provide BBVA with capital gains beforetaxes of around €300m. Gmp Sociedad de Inversiones Inmobiliarias: growth strategy The operation, which means the acquisition of 108,807 m2, fits the Gmp Group'sstrategy, aimed at buying outstanding assets in prime locations where it canoffer its tenants infrastructures equipped with quality services. AguirreNewman, Clifford Chance and Nmas1 have given professional advice to Gmp oncarrying out this operation. With this purchase, Gmp strengthens its position in the office market in Madrid,especially in the prime area and in the Recoletos-Castellana district. In total,the group owns 363,482 m2 of office space in the capital, of which more thanhalf (197,885 m2) are located in Madrid's downtown and business district. Gmp already has an extensive portfolio of buildings in operation at Genova 27(ING's current headquarters), Luchana 23, Hermosilla 3 (where Garrigues havetheir central office) and 11, next to Plaza de Colon, and Orense 34, very nearPaseo de la Castellana, among others. In the north of Madrid, it owns twoBusiness Centers, "Parque Norte" facing the M-30, where Sun Microsystems, Thalesand Ferrovial have their headquarters, and "Castellana Norte" in the Las Tablasdistrict, which houses the central offices of Vodafone. The BBVA Tower at Paseo de la Castellana 81 is a true landmark and one of themost representative buildings in Madrid. With a height of over 100 meters, thisbuilding designed by the architect Javier Saenz de Oiza has a total surface areaof 49,701 m2 distributed over 30 floors. It is located in the heart of theMadrid business district and in a major shopping area easily accessible bypublic transport. Founded in 1979, the Gmp real estate group is one of the leading propertycompanies in Spain. The group focuses mainly on investment, development andmanagement of real estate assets, with special emphasis on offices and businessparks. At present, Gmp owns over 392,000 m2 in offices in operation in Madrid,Valencia and Barcelona. More information: BBVA Corporate Communication Gmp Press Contact:+34 91 3744014 KETCHUM/S.E.I.S.- +34 91 788 32 00 Isabel Luque/Victor Acero [email protected] [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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