A report that Amancio Ortega, Spain's richest man, had purchased 11 buildings of Banco Santander's EUR 4 bn property portfolio for just under EUR 500 mln was dismissed as premature on Tuesday. According to reliable market sources, talks are still going on between Santander and the final bidders for parts of the portfolio.
A report that Amancio Ortega, Spain's richest man, had purchased 11 buildings of Banco Santander's EUR 4 bn property portfolio for just under EUR 500 mln was dismissed as premature on Tuesday. According to reliable market sources, talks are still going on between Santander and the final bidders for parts of the portfolio.
Ortega, GE Real Estate, Deutsche Bank's RREEF property arm and Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Funds were believed to be still in the game when the bidding process for the five lots of buildings closed at the end of September. Ortega, chairman of Inditex and owner of Zara, is understood to have bid for three of the five lots of property put on the market by Santander in a sale and leaseback deal to help fund its portion of the EUR 71 bn consortium bid for Dutch bank ABN Amro. Santander declined to comment.
Europroperty reported on Monday that Ortega's property group, Pontegadea, had won the bidding for 11 of the buildings, grouped in three lots, in a deal that reflected a net yield of 4.5%. Europroperty said that the highest alternative bid was believed to have come to EUR 3.2bn.
Pontegadea and GE Real Estate had reportedly worked together originally before parting company due to a disagreement about one of the lots. Europroperty cited Borja Sierra, head of Savills' Madrid office, Pontegadea's adviser, as saying: 'Julio Díaz-Freijo, who is head of Pontegadea, managed to negotiate a separate agreement and outbid 20 other strong bidders for lots two to four'. Lot one comprises the bank's 1.5m m2 headquarters in the west of Madrid.