Safra’s «Sarasin Sustainable Properties» completes first Spanish investment.

Catella Asset Management Iberia has purchased a €17 million office building in Barcelona’s Felipe II Street on behalf of the German fund ‘Sarasin Sustainable Properties’.

«Sarasin Sustainable Properties – European Cities» is a product managed by Catella Real Estate AG on behalf of Bank J. Safra Sarasin in Switzerland. The fund caters specifically to the needs of institutional investors in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.

The Seller was an investment fund, established and managed on a discretionary basis by Shaftesbury Asset Management Group that had bought the property from Telefónica in 2015. BNP Paribas Real Estate acted as exclusive advisor to Shaftesbury on this transaction.

The property was completely refurbished in 2018 and is located in La Sagrera neighbourhood, in northwest ​​Barcelona. La Sagrera is next to the thriving office district known as 22@ which is enjoying a significant investment boom. With a constructed area of over 5,800m², its current tenants are Telefónica and the digital marketing agency CPM.

Catella AM Iberia has acted as asset manager throughout the entire process (identifying the investment opportunity, and negotiating and closing the purchase) marking the first acquisition by the ‘Sarasin Sustainable Properties – European Cities’ fund in the Iberian Peninsula.

Javier Hortelano, Managing Partner of Catella Asset Management Iberia, comments: ‘We are very happy to communicate our first investment in the office market in the Iberian Peninsula, a market that we consider truly attractive and in which we hope to continue active. We plan to continue with our investment program and hope to announce soon the closing of new transactions currently in execution. Our goal is to invest 300 million euros more over the next two years in different sectors such as residential, retail, offices and alternative (student residences, parking and others currently under study).’

About Catella / Catella Asset Management Iberia

Catella is a leading finance group in property and alternative investments. The company was founded in 1987, has 29 offices across 15 countries with approximately 550+ employees. Through a Pan-European platform with global reach, Catella offers local expertise and customised services in property and alternative investments, primarily aimed at professional investors. Operations is divided into three business areas: Corporate Finance, Property Investment Management and Equity, Hedge and Fixed Income Funds. Total income LTM was SEK 2.3 billion and assets under management was SEK 202 billion (Q2, 2019). Catella is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in the Mid Cap segment.

In Spain, the Group is present through two different business areas: Catella Asset Management Iberia (Catella AM) and Catella Property. Catella AM is a company that manages investments and real estate assets in Spain and Portugal mainly on behalf of funds managed by the company itself, as well as for Spanish and foreign institutional investors. The company it is focused in the acquisition and development of real estate assets for residential and commercial use.