Banco Santander launches Santander Real Estate Opportunities, a retail real estate fund managed by Retailco to raise €150M (invest up to €300M) in Spain & Portugal.
Banco Santander is stepping up its exposure to retail real estate with the launch of a new investment vehicle, Santander Real Estate Opportunities. Managed by Retailco — the bank’s unit set up in 2021 to manage closed branch premises — the fund aims to raise €150 million and deploy up to €300 million in retail assets across Spain and Portugal.
The fund has already received approval from Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) as of last December, according to the bank’s management company. Grupo Santander will anchor the fund with a reported €30 million commitment, roughly 20% of the targeted raise. Santander has set the vehicle’s life at ten years and is targeting double-digit annual returns.
Santander Real Estate Opportunities will focus on a mix of retail assets: retail parks, shopping centres, street-level commercial premises and mixed-use buildings with commercial components. The team expects to acquire between eight and ten assets across Spain and Portugal, with Retailco responsible for day-to-day asset management — ranging from leasing and rental optimisation to sale, change of use and asset transformation.
The move forms part of a broader diversification strategy by Santander’s alternative investment arm. Outside retail, the group has been active in residential assets through co-investment funds and currently has flex-living developments underway in Madrid and Valencia alongside homebuilders like Aedas Homes and Neinor Homes.
Santander is not alone in targeting retail property. Other Spanish financial institutions have made notable plays in the sector — for example, Banca March’s acquisition of ABC Serrano in Madrid and Bankinter’s retail-focused vehicle with Sonae Sierra and Ores Socimi. Santander itself — via Santander Private Banking Advisory and partners such as Rivoli Asset Management — has recently participated in several shopping centre transactions using client capital, including a 50% stake in Xanadú for €200 million, Ballonti in Bilbao for €120 million, AireSur in Seville for €80 million and Moraleja Green in Madrid for €65 million.
As investors reassess consumption patterns and the role of physical retail, Santander’s new fund signals confidence in repositioning and repurposing retail assets where demand exists. With a decade-long time horizon and an in-house management platform in Retailco, the bank aims to extract value through active asset management and selective acquisitions across high-potential locations in Spain and Portugal.
