CBRE Closes The Largest Real Estate Transaction in Europe With Sale of Banco Santander

CBRE Capital Markets has advised the Bank of Santander on the sale/leaseback of its 1,200-property portfolio in Spain. The deal is thought to be the largest real estate portfolio transaction ever carried out in the Spanish market. The 11 million-sq-ft portfolio comprises Santander’s new 4.6 million-sq-ft headquarters, along with 11 other regional office properties and more than 1,152 retail bank branches. The entire portfolio was sold for US$6.5 billion to three different investors within six months. (The regional offices were sold to real estate vehicle Pontegadea, owned by Amancio Ortega (Inditex Group), and the retail bank branches to Pearl from the UK). The transaction concluded in January 2008 with the sale and leaseback of Santander’s headquarters near Madrid to British real estate investor Propinvest for $2.8bn. The sale of the entire portfolio generated a net capital gain for Santander of $2.5bn