GPF Capital Real Estate, the newly launched real estate arm of GPF Capital, has exchanged contracts with CBRE Global Investors for the acquisition of the Axis Building located in Madrid's Plaza de Colon.
Financial details were not disclosed, but market sources put the deal value at around €100 mln.
The building, formerly Barclays' headquarters since 1971, provides 4,000 m2 GLA distributed over five floors, with a basement for commercial use and offices, as well as a terrace of 775 m2 and 15 parking spaces.
The asset is currently undergoing significant redevelopment. The new building has been designed by Foster + Partners and is located at one of Madrid's most prestigious business and communication hubs.
Investment firm GPF Capital said that it is entering the real estate sector in response to the growing investment appetite on the part of large national and international family offices invested in their private equity funds.
Founded in 2015 by Martin Rodriguez-Fraile, Ignacio Olascoaga, Lorenzo Martinez de Albornoz and Guillermo Castellanos, GPF currently manages €400 mln between the funds GPF Capital I, GPF Capital II and GPF Capital Real Estate. Both the funds and the real estate investments are exclusively owned by private investors/family offices in Spain, the US and 13 Latin American countries (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Panama, Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica).
The Axis building was acquired in January 2017 by CBRE Global Investors on behalf of one of its funds.
Antonio Simontalero, country manager for Spain and Portugal at CBRE Global Investors, said: 'The project we are carrying out in Colon 1 is another example of our ability to source and reposition assets with potential and generate value for our investors. We are very proud of this new building, which will undoubtedly become an icon in the city of Madrid.'
CBRE Global Investors currently manages €4.1 bn of assets in the Iberian region for various clients.
GPF Capital was advised by Grupo A&G, UriaMenendez, PWC and Arcadys.
CBRE Global Investors was assisted by CBRE, Pérez-Llorca, ARQ and NearbyRE.
