Merlin buys Novobanco HQ for €112M

The Spanish real estate investors Merlin Properties has bought one of the most iconic modern buildings in Lisbon for €112.2 million.

The purchase of the Novobanco HQ building located on Lisbon’s Avenida da Liberdade will probably go down as the largest single property deal in Portugal in 2022.
According to a communiqué sent to the Portuguese stock market regulator, CMVM, the biding sale contract for the building has been signed. The buyer had not been revealed, but the online news service ECO discovered.
“Novobanco informs that following the conclusion of a competitive sale, the bank signed a Promissory Contract of Purchase and Sale (a binding contract) for the sale of the building of its current headquarters located on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon”, states the document which also states “the value of the sale of the property totalled €112.2 million”.
During the non-binding phase of the sale process, around 100 companies signed confidentiality agreements including Allianz, Vanguard Properties, Vogue Homes and Eastbanc.
During the final phase the front runners were Rosewood Capital based in Luxembourg and Merlin Properties.
Consultants JLL and Cushman & Wakefield were mandated to sell the building which was presented to investors on 18 April 2022 with a starting price of €96 million.