Spain sale and leaseback portfolio partially sold

Moor Park Capital, the London-based asset management and investment firm, has sold a package of 48 local bank branches in Spain to the private investment house of Armancio Ortega, the founder of the eponymous Inditex fashion chain.

In a statement issued today, it emerged ISC Freshwater Investments, which is an investment vehicle advised by Moor Park, has sold the prime branches for €55 million to Pontegadea Group.

The sale underlines the break-up strategy that investments firms are pursuing in Spain once they acquire multiple units in large sale and leaseback transactions with savings banks in the country.

Moor Park and a consortium of investors reported to include New York’s Och-Ziff Capital Management, bought 378 branches for €403 million in April this year from Banco Sabadell in a sale and leaseback deal. The bank agreed to a minimum rental term of 25 years across the properties. The subsequent sale comprises five large retail banking units situated in well-established retail locations in different Spanish major cities including Barcelona and Madrid.

Cushman & Wakefield and Aguirre Newman are exclusive selling agents across the whole portfolio. The former of the two agents said in a statement it received many inquiries from interested buyers so it decided to sell a small selection of individual assets from the portfolio. To date around €65 million of properties have been sold in total.

The buyer is the private property company of the founder of Inditex, Armancio Ortego, whose best-known high street chain is Zara.

Shares in Inditex have risen around 32 percent since the start of the year, giving the Ortega family a corresponding increase in paper wealth.