Bankia SA is preparing to sell 4.8 billion euros ($5.4 billion) of Spanish residential and commercial property as international investors return to the nation’s real estate market.
The Madrid-based lender is offering 3.3 billion euros of residential properties, 1.1 billion euros of commercial units and land valued at 400 million euros, according to a document sent to investors by Credit Suisse Group AG, which is advising Bankia on the deal.
Investment in Spanish property jumped to 17.8 billion euros last year from 4.9 billion euros in 2013, according to data compiled by Irea. Home prices in the country last year posted their first annual increase since 2007 as the property market recovers from the worst recession in the country’s democratic history.
“The risk perception of the country has fallen so much, and the expectation of recovery in the property sector is so high compared with neighboring countries, that there are many investors searching for all kinds of real estate products,” said Patricio Palomar, head of alternative investment at realtor CBRE Group Inc. in Spain.
Officials at Bankia, Spain’s fourth-largest bank, and at Credit Suisse declined to comment on the sale. Expansion reported the proposal on Wednesday.
Bankia would prefer to sell the entire portfolio in one block, although it could divide it into portions to facilitate a sale, according to the Credit Suisse document.
Source: Bloomberg