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CatalunyaBanc Sells Headquarters on Recoletos St. in Madrid to Mazabi Gestión

10/07/2014 – Expansion

CatalunyaBanc continues sales of its non-core assets before its own privatization. The nationalized entity controlled by the Fund for Orderly Banking Restructuring (Frob) has signed an agreement on transfer of an office building in the center of Madrid with Mazabi Gestión de Patrimonios, a real estate investment company belonging to eight Spanish family offices. The price is said to oscillate around €12 million.

The 2.157 square meter property is situated at 15 Recoletos Street and it has been housing a part of the central headquarters of CatalunyaCaixa for the last years. Currently, the building stands empty but Mazabi aims at refurbishing it and renting as a corporative premises.

The real estate group associates eight large family offices from Aragon, the Basque Country, Castille and León, Madrid and Barcelona, looking out for assets both in Spain and outside the country, also investing with other groups. On this occasion, Mazabi buys the building from Catalunya Banc together with southern-American investors. In total, the company manages assets valued at €650 million.

Apart from this divestment, CatalunyaBanc shed several stakes in various firms. To illustrate, few weeks ago the bank transferred a lot of holdings to French fund Salvepar for €11 million. Another examples are the underwriting Applus+ in the stock exchange and the sale of its property servicer to Blackstone and Magic Real Estate.

While Catalunya Banc struggles to meet the restructuring requirements, Frob gives the finishing touch to the entity´s sale. At least four groups have submitted their offers. Santander, CaixaBank, Société Générale and BBVA lead in the bidding.

The key movement before the bank´s sale is the transfer of its soured loan portfolio valued at €6.5 billion, desired by five international fund-bank teams: Soros & Värde Partners, Apollo, Centerbridge & Lone Star, Pimco, Marathon, Oaktree, Deutsche Bank & Finsolutia, Cerberus & Goldman Sachs, and finally Blackstone & TPG. Frob will invest in the NPL portfolio together with finalists.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: AURA REE