Cain International expects to double its European portfolio to €2bn by the end of next year, the company said as it announced the acquisition of a €225m Spanish office portfolio.

The Europe and US real estate investment firm said it has acquired the 133,000sqm portfolio comprising six office parks in Madrid and two in Barcelona from Merlin Properties.

The acquisition was made with existing joint venture partner FREO Group with whom Cain International already has an existing joint venture to develop a 15,000sqm office development in the 22@ district of Barcelona.

Cain International said the acquired portfolio is around three-quarters let, offering significant opportunities to add value through securing additional tenants, refurbishment and redevelopment.

Daniel Harris, head of European investments at Cain International, said the Spanish office market is experiencing significant growth, with rents increasing and vacancy reducing, and these well-located assets offer substantial scope for value creation through a granular approach.

“We are pleased to be adding to our portfolio through this deal and are actively continuing to seek out further investment opportunities.

“With this acquisition, our development in 22@ in Barcelona and our current pipeline, we are aggregating a portfolio of close to €500m which demonstrates our confidence in the current cyclical opportunity in Spain”

In June, the firm announced it had signed six deals valued at €1bn in the past 18 months.

Cain International said with this closing and the current pipeline of transactions, the firm expects to double its European portfolio to €2bn by the end of 2020.