Spanish bank Caja Madrid has hired Aguirre Newman to sell its Torre Kio headquarters on Madrid's Plaza de Castilla in a sale-and-leaseback transaction worth over EUR 200 mln. Developed by Kuwait Investments Office, the scheme offers some 30,000 m2 of office space and a parking lot.

According to a report by the EFE news agency, property firm Realia may be interested. The company's largest shareholders are construction group FCC and Caja Madrid.

Caja Madrid bought Torre Kio back in 1997. In 2007, the lender decided to relocate to a new Norman Foster-designed skyscraper on the former Ciudad Deportiva area of Madrid. It spent EUR 815 mln to buy the asset from oil group Repsol. However, the landmark building is now expected to house the headquarters of Bankia, the Spanish savings banks conglomerate led by Caja Madrid that was formed in December 2010.

Back in March, Bankia completed the sale and leaseback of a portfolio of eight Caja Madrid office properties to a partnership of Drago Capital and Grupo Atitlan. The transaction price amounts to around EUR 22 mln.