Spanish banking giant Santander intends to buy £500 mln (EUR 584 mln) of properties it uses in the UK, according to a report in Property Week. The publication said Santander is close to agreeing the purchase of hundreds of offices and bank branches owned by London-listed outsourcing specialist Mapeley.
Spanish banking giant Santander intends to buy £500 mln (EUR 584 mln) of properties it uses in the UK, according to a report in Property Week. The publication said Santander is close to agreeing the purchase of hundreds of offices and bank branches owned by London-listed outsourcing specialist Mapeley.
The deal would signal a departure from the trend by corporates in Europe, Spanish banks in particular, to dispose of real estate from their balance sheets through sale-and-leaseback transactions. BBVA bank and retailer Eroski has carried out a series of significant sale-and-leasebacks in Spain this year.
But Santander intends to do the opposite and buy back important properties among the portfolio Abbey National sold to Mapeley for £457 mln in 2000. Santander acquired Abbey in 2004 and rebranded it as Santander this year.
Such a move would give Santander more control over the key properties it intends to occupy on a long-term basis. In addition, accountancy changes have resulted in lease properties being included in the balance sheet, eliminating one of the advantages of a sale-and-leaseback structure.
