Bankinter and Sonae Sierra have joined forces to launch the first Portuguese real estate investment trust, Olimpo Real Estate Portugal, targeting a volume of some €500 mln.
The two investors are replicating a partnership already tested in Spain with the launch in February 2017 of the Spanish REIT, Olimpo Real Estate.
Under the agreement, Sonae Sierra will be responsible for the management of the real estate portfolio and the administrative management of the company, and Bankinter will be the strategic manager of the vehicle.
With this initiative, the first of its kind in Portugal, Bankinter will give its customers 'the opportunity to invest in stable assets and with commercial operating agreements, benefitting from a diversified retail portfolio and that is expected will include Supermarkets, Hypermarkets, Stores, Retail Parks and Offices essentially located in the largest urban centres in Portugal', the company said in a statement.
Portugual introduced tax-efficient REIT structures - locally known as SIGI - in early 2019 but there has not been a single REIT creation up to today.
For Pedro Lobo, director of Bankinter’s Private Banking in Portugal, said: 'The creation of SIGI ORES Portugal represents a unique and exclusive opportunity for our Private Customers to diversify their investments, benefitting from an innovative financial instrument in Portugal, to be admitted to trading on the market, managed by reference partners and with very interesting potential returns in the current context of low interest.'
Pedro Caupers, Executive Administrator, responsible for Sonae Sierra’s Investment area, added: 'Our international experience as real estate investment managers will enable us to create a pioneering vehicle in Portugal, which could have very interesting returns, consolidating our leading position in the development of innovative solutions, to meet the ambitions of our investors and partners.'
