The Canadian Public Pension Investment Board (CPPIB), Canada's largest pension fund, has begun the sale of approximately 7,000 properties in Spain, an operation that has been delegated to Alvarez & Marsal and valued at more than €1 billion, according to El Confidencial.
The move is part of Cppib's divestment strategy, which acquired a considerable number of assets in Spain between 2018 and 2021 under Project Azure, led by US consultancy Alvarez & Marsal. The fund's portfolio includes significant acquisitions, mainly from domestic banks, including purchases of real estate loans valued at around €2bn from Banco Santander and €1.5bn in mortgages from BBVA. In total, the Cppib owns around 2,500 properties, distributed in 68% residential, 14% commercial and 6% industrial.
CPPIB is positioned as the sixth largest pension fund worldwide, managing assets estimated at around 400 billion euros. In addition, it is currently offering around 4,200 units on the market, including flats, commercial premises and industrial buildings, following previous sales experiences by other funds, such as the US fund Marathon, which did not manage to successfully conclude their respective transactions. These previous operations, also related to large Spanish banks, included assets from a portfolio valued at 1.2 billion euros of Ibercaja and Santander, which did not meet the expected price expectations.
In addition, CPPIB, under the leadership of John Graham, represents 13% of Canada's total assets and is projected to reach a value of $1 trillion by 2031, as detailed in its annual report. The group is also promoting loans in the process of adjudication valued at 911 million euros as part of its business strategy.
