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Merlin Properties Buys Another Building In Barcelona for €37m

13 January 2015 – Expansión

Merlin Properties, a leading Spanish listed real estate company, is investing in Barcelona once more. In August last year, it acquired a building in the World Trade Center (WTC) Almeda Park (Baix Llobregat) from the Swiss bank UBS, and five months later, it is completing a very similar transaction. The Socimi has bought a new office building in the same business complex, which was also owned by UBS, for €37 million. The Swiss bank has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

Merlin Properties has acquired building number 8 in the WTC’s Almeda Park complex, which includes 14,543 square metres of office space and is leased to various groups, including Panasonic, Technip and Colt Telecom.

Last August, Merlin Properties bought building number 6 in the same complex, for €47 million, which is leased to Axa (the sole tenant). Cushman & Wakefield also advised on that transaction.

The CEO of the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Oriol Barrachina, indicates that “real estate investors are interested in this business complex because its facilities are very attractive to the companies that occupy it”.

Catalan sovereignty

Last December, the CEO of Merlin Properties, Ismael Clemente, warned that Catalan sovereignty was beginning to affect real estate investments in that market, “We have seen a shift in investor sentiment in Cataluña”, he said. However, he also assured that Merlin Properties would continue to increase its portfolio in the Catalan market.

Original article: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Aura REE