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Catalonia sells 13 buildings to Axa “in order to make ends meet”.

The French insurance group Axa confirmed yesterday the interest of foreign funds in the Spanish real estate market. The greatest fund of real estate assets in Spain, Axa Real Estate, which had not acquired any offices in Spain since the beginning of the crisis, has acquired a lot of 13 buildings from the Catalan Government for 172 million Euros.

The Catalan Government will remain as tenant of the buildings and will pay an annual rent of 16,2 million Euros. The operation is a part of Artur Mas´ plans to reduce the deficit through sales and privatizations. There will be a decrease of the public debt in 172 million Euros, although only 127 million Euros will be deposited in the Treasury. The remaining 45 million Euros will be used to cancel the mortgages on these buildings. The spokesperson of the Generalitat, Francesc Homs, declared yesterday that the sale of these 13 buildings “will allow us to make ends meet”.

The buildings have been sold with a discount of 16,5% on the initial price and will mean a profitability of 9,45% for the buyer.

Source: Expansión