Spain's largest bank Banco Santander has completed the sale of its head office in Madrid to a consortium led by the UK property investor Propinvest. The bank, which acquired ABN Amro Bank last year together with Fortis and Bank of Scotland, said in a statement to the market authorities on Friday that it has leased back the property, Santander Financial City, for a period of 40 years. The agreement includes an option for the bank to purchase the headquarters at the end of the period.
Spain's largest bank Banco Santander has completed the sale of its head office in Madrid to a consortium led by the UK property investor Propinvest. The bank, which acquired ABN Amro Bank last year together with Fortis and Bank of Scotland, said in a statement to the market authorities on Friday that it has leased back the property, Santander Financial City, for a period of 40 years. The agreement includes an option for the bank to purchase the headquarters at the end of the period.
The capital gains obtained by Santander from this sale are close to EUR 600 mln. At the time of the ABN Amro takeover, Santander said it would spin off part of its real estate portfolio to generate funds for the acquisition. The sale of its head office in Madrid was first announced in January this year.
The bank has carried out EUR 4.4 bn of real estate transactions in the last year, generating total capital gains of EUR 1.7 bn.
