BBVA Bilbao | Photo: Google Maps
The 22.000 sqm building is located at number 12 Gran Vía de Bilbao, it is still leased to BBVA and will remain so for at least 10 more years. This contract offers returns of 4.5%.
The sale process launched by Mutualidade de la Abogacía started one month ago in a «restricted» format and there are already several bids on the table, mainly from insurance companies, revealed newspaper El Economista. Nevertheless, the company informed that the process is «postponed» without, however, advancing the motive or a future date, although it is expected for the postponement to be extended until at least December since BBVA has one month to exercise its right to rebuy the asset.
This building has been a part of the law firm’s portfolio for 10 years when it bought it for 100 million euro from German fund RREEF managed by Deutsche Bank. The German fund had, in its turn, acquired the asset in 2009 along with 160 BBVA buildings and branches from the Spanish bank for 364 million euro.
It should be noted that BBVA’s latest activity within the real estate market includes the repurchase of assets it had sold in the past. An example of that was the purchase, 2 years ago, of 166 bank branches from Merlin Properties. The bank, which had these branches under lease, paid 252 million euros for this package of offices.
