6 | LMT BUSINESS JOURNAL

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2005

FINSA makes $453 million real estate deal

BY MIKE HALL
LAREDO MORNING TIMES

FINSA announced last Monday

the sale of a substantial part of its
portfolio of industrial properties in
Mexico to Intramerica Real Estate
Group, a GE Commercial Finance
Real Estate subsidiary for $453 million.
Hector J. Romeu Jr., sales director for northern Mexico and South
Texas for FINSA, said this change
one of the largest and most important industrial real estate transactions in Latin America.
FINSA holds more than 10.5 million sq. ft. of industrial real estate
leased to national and foreign corporations in Mexico and in the U.S.,
he said.
Because of the deal and
increased capital from new partnerships, international manufacturing companies will have new
access to infrastructure development in Nuevo Laredo at competitive lease rates and benefit corresponding logistic centers on the
U.S. side, this will be an advantage
to Laredo Romeu said.
FINZA will continue to develop
a site for any company with everything completed according to the
companys expectations so that all
the company would need to do is
move in the equipment, and hire
the employees and management, he
said.
The changes wont be limited to
Laredo. Further industrial development is expected to occur in
Matamoros,
Mexico
City,
Monterrey, Saltillo, and other
places throughout Mexico, he said.
Properties in South America will
also be affected.

A family affair
The Argelles family, based in
Matamoros, began their involvement with Nuevo Laredo and
Laredo with the development if the
first FINSA industrial park in
Nuevo Laredo in 1986, and later
developed the World Trade
Commerce Center with the building of the World Trade Bridge in
Laredo.
Penske Logistics has a 100,000sq. ft logistics and warehouse operation leased at the Commerce
Center to provide supplies to the
Delphi plants in northern Mexico.
The family is one of the founders
of the Mexican Industrial Park
Association, formed 27 years ago
when the maquiladora concept was
expanded, Romeu said.
They are a well-known

Mexican family from the region

that is having this level of financial
success. This sale is a full cycle for a
local border family. The family
weaves their lives around the border
between
Laredo
and
Brownsville/ Matamoros, he said.
FINSA holds more than 10.5 million sq. ft. of industrial real estate
leased to national and foreign corporations.

Partnerships
As a result of this transaction
Intramerica Real Estate Group and
the Argelles family have created a
new partnership called Intramerica
Industrial Properties I, where, in
addition to their shareholder participation, the Argelles family will
provide their experience as one of
the most important industrial real
estate developers, lease operators
and property managers in Latin
America, according to Sergio
Argelles Gonzlez, president and
CEO of FINSA.
FINSA will continue managing
all the included parks, land bank
and industrial properties in
Mexico, Argentina and Texas,
according to.
In addition, the Argelles family
and AIG Global Real Estate
Investment Corp. have incorporated a new partnership called FINSA
II, that will provided an initial $100
million fund, which will be used to
develop more than 10 million-sq. ft.
of new industrial real estate in
Mexico using FINSAs available
land bank and future new land
acquisitions, said.
Argelles confirmed his conviction in favoring strategic joint ventures, emphasizing FINSAs promising future upon entering into this
new partnership with a partner
such as Intramerica/GE.

Continued investment
We are convinced this new
investment and portfolio will continue to be a great success and are
confirming our commitment and
confidence in Mexicos industrial
potential by beginning this new
partnership in FINSA II with our
current business partner AIG
Global Real Estate, Argelles
said.
The formation of Intramerica
Real Estate Group and this sizable
acquisition reflects the number of
excellent real estate investment
opportunities in Mexico and underscores our strong commitment to
the market, said Joaquin de Monet,
managing director Mexico, for GE

Courtesy photo | FINSA

FINSA announced last Monday the sale of a substantial part of its portfolio of industrial
properties in Mexico to Intramerica Real Estate Group, a GE Commercial Finance Real
Estate subsidiary, for $453 million. Pictured, from left, are Federico Ros, GE Commercial
Finance Real Estate general counsel; Don Sergio Argelles Gutirrez , FINSA chairman of
the Board; Sergio Argelles Gonzlez, FINSA, president and CEO; and Joaquin de Monet,
managing director Mexico, GE Commercial Finance Real Estate.
Commercial Finance Real Estate.
William Marino, of AIG Global
Real Estate, said, With this operation we have successfully completed the first stage of our partnership with the Argelles family
beginning in year 2000, we have
duplicated the size of the original
portfolio.
We feel very excited with the
beginning of our next investment
with them in FINSA II. We have
great confidence in the success of
this investment. We believe that
Intramerica and the Argelles family are the ideal team to manage
this portfolio, he said.
Joe Parsons, president of North
American
Equity
for
GE
Commercial Finance Real Estate,
said, As economic stability and the
export manufacturing market continue to improve in Mexico, we
expect more investment opportunities will develop in the commercial
real estate space.
Intramerica Real Estate Group
provides GE with the infrastructure and market capabilities
required to capitalize on opportunities in a rapidly evolving market, Parson said.
Sergio Argelles Sr., FINSAs
chairman of the board, said, In the
28 years of FINSAs operations, our
confidence in Mexico and its institutions has driven us to take determining decisions such as this, that will
permit us to continue our leadership
in the industrial real estate markets
and increase our participation in the
ever stronger Mexican economy.

Active players
GE Commercial Finance Real
Estate has been an active player in
the commercial real estate market
in Mexico since 1994.

With this most recent acquisition, the companys portfolio in

Mexico consists of $2.5 billion in
assets. With offices in Mexico City
and Monterrey, the firm employs a
team of professionals in Mexico.
FINSA Group is one of the
largest full-service industrial real
estate developers in Mexico; with a
total of 75 employees, the company
operates and provides world-class
services since 1977. More than
100,000 jobs are provided and over
230 companies operate within
FINSA industrial parks.
AIG Global Real Estate
Investment Corp. is a subsidiary of
American International Group Inc.
(AIG).
The Company invests in and
actively manages real estate
around the world for unaffiliated
clients and member companies of
AIG.
In March 2000 AIG acquired a
participation of FINSA. AIG is one
of the worlds largest insurance
company with a $134 billion in capitalization.
AIG has a AAA rating from
Moodys and Standard & Poors.
(Mike Hall may be contacted at
728-2529 or by e-mail at
mhall@lmtonline.com.)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2005

LMT BUSINESS JOURNAL | 11

Pradeau Trust
boosts local science,
ed scholars at LCC
Siros Trust also
adds to donation
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

One familys commitment to

promoting the value of higher education will affect the lives of many
students at Laredo Community
College, thanks to a generous donation of $81,000 from the Pradeau
Charitable Remainder Trust.
The money will go toward the
Guillermo Miller Scholarship for
Science to eligible college students
pursuing careers in chemistry,
physics and mathematics, as well as
careers in the education field.
The trust was established by
Martha C. Pradeau and her
nephew, Guillermo Miller, both of
whom lived in Laredo for many
years before moving to California.
Pradeau, born in Monterrey,
Mexico, was the granddaughter of
German immigrants and was
raised in a family that owned several businesses in Mexico.
In 1934, at 22, she moved to the
United States. She met and married
in 1950 her husband of 30 years,
Dr. Alberto Francisco Pradeau. He
served as a faculty member at the
University of Southern California.
Pradeaus husband was her inspiration, and she continued his legacy
of supporting higher education.
Miller worked at CPL for many
years. He and his late wife, Alicia,
were also strong supporters of edu-

cation. Their son Federico taught

science at LCC; hes now in Austin.
Guillermo Miller died on April
8, 2003, in California at 80. Martha
Pradeau, died later that same year,
also in California, at 91.
Millie Slaughter, director of
community relations at LCC, said
that the college will invest the
scholarship funds immediately and
generate funds for scholarships
beginning in the fall 2006 semester.
Laredo Community College
plans to award two $1,000 scholarships annually, Slaughter said.
The scholarship is open to parttime students, but preference will
be given to full-time students.
Slaughter added that the donation from the Pradeau Trust was
received by the college on Nov. 16,
the same day that LCC received an
additional $30,000 from the
Alphonse Siros Charitable Trust.
Established in 2001 for the Siros
Resource Library at the Martinez
Fine Arts Center, the latest contribution from this fund brings the
total donation to $105,000.
The college will use the new
donation from the Siros Trust to
enhance librarys resources and provide excellence in fine arts education for the benefit of LCC students.
Slaughter concluded that Nov. 16
was a great day for the college as it
also received a $500 donation for
scholarships from a member of the
LCC Citizens Advisory Committee.
For more information, visit
www.laredo.edu/financial aid or
call 721-5361.

Dimon to speak about role of

U.S. and EU in Latin America
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The next speaker in the Keynote

speaker Series will be Denise
Dimon, director of the Ahlers
Center for International Business
and the International MBA
Program at the University of San
Diego in San Diego, Calif.
Her topic will be regionalization
in Latin America and the role of the
U.S. and EU The event will be at the
Western Hemispheric Trade Center,
Room Tuesday, Nov. 29 Room 111,
and it is open to the public.

Dimon currently serves as the

executive secretary of the Business
Associate of Latin America Studies
(BALAS) coordinating various
aspects of the organizations focus
on business and economic environments of Latin America.
She obtained a doctorate and
masters of economics degree from
the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and a masters
degree in international management from the University of
Denver.