El Corte Inglés Real Estate, whose first chief executive will be Javier Catena, thus arrives on the scene as a new market operator that will offer its services both to the Group itself and to outside companies. The transaction is part of a strategy aimed at contributing greater added value to property and improving the Group’s profitability.
El Corte Inglés Group will create a business unit specialising in the development, construction and management of property assets, to be known as El Corte Inglés Real Estate. The new business unit will integrate all the Group areas involved in property-related activities and leverage the experience of its construction, architecture, engineering, works and projects and interior design and decoration teams, among others.
El Corte Inglés has one of the largest property portfolios of any company in Spain, coupled with longstanding experience in property development and construction projects, mainly shopping centres, but also other types of assets developed for third parties.
This initiative will involve the merger of three divisions: Works and Construction, Property Operation and Management, and El Corte Inglés Empresas. The Works and Construction division is formed of an experienced team of architects, engineers and professionals specialising in building shopping centres; the Property Operation and Management division focuses on the purchase and sale of a wide range of properties, and on property management and operation; while El Corte Inglés Empresas is aimed at external customers and is dedicated to the creation and renovation of hotels and offices, offering an extensive range of solutions for carrying out all types of refurbishments, installations and fittings. It also has its own interior design and decoration studio.
El Corte Inglés Real Estate arrives on the scene as a new operator in the property market with services aimed at both the distribution Group and external companies. It will undertake construction, promotion and refurbishment projects for third parties, and any other type of initiatives that may be demanded by corporate customers of all kinds.
The transaction is part of the strategy designed by Víctor del Pozo, the Group’s CEO, to generate greater added value for property and improve its profitability.
In this context, the green transaction for the sale of non-strategic property assets has now been absorbed into this new project, thus contributing greater added value and profitability to each property. In spite of receiving numerous interesting offers in recent months, El Corte Inglés has opted to develop its property business directly in order to maximise all the advantages of the market.
The chief executive at the head of this new business unit is Javier Catena, who is backed by considerable experience and recognition in the property market. Catena joined El Corte Inglés last March.
