Meridia Buys Nestlé España’s HQ For €40M

27 October 2015 – Expansión

Meridia is continuing to invest in the Spanish real estate market. The firm has acquired the Spanish headquarters of the Swiss multinational Nestlé, located in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona). The office complex has a total surface area of 50,000 m2 and according to sources in the sector, Meridia paid €40 million for the properties.

The facilities comprise two office buildings and around 600 parking spaces. Nestlé will remain as the tenant of the first building, the larger of the two, under a long-term lease contract. The second building, which is currently empty, will be leased to third parties or to Nestlé itself, according to statement issued by the multinational food company yesterday. The operation still needs to be formally registered but a preliminary agreement has now been signed, according to sources close to the process. The vendor has been advised by JLL and the buyer by CBRE.

Yesterday, sources at Nestlé said that the sale “was based on the desire to focus exclusively on our real estate assets in the industrial sector”. They also said that the change in ownership of the land and Nestle’s Spanish headquarters “will not have any impact whatsoever on the activity undertaken at the company’s headquarters, which has been conducted on this site for 40 years”.

Investment of €10 million

Over the past two years, Nestlé has invested almost €10 million in the renovation of the larger building, which houses its headquarters.

Thanks to the elimination of shared spaces and the conversion of all of the floors into open spaces, they have managed to concentrate all of the teams into one building.

The investor’s return on this operation is unknown. According to sources in the real estate sector, the rental price for offices in this area near Barcelona range between €6/m2/month and €10/m2/month.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake