Inditex founder snaps up part of Amazon’s HQ in Seattle for €655m

Inditex founder Amancio Ortega will become Amazon’s landlord after completing the purchase of a part of the e-tailer’s headquarters in Seattle in a transaction worth $740 million (€655 million), sources close to the matter told Europa Press.

The Spanish businessman has completed, through his investment firm Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, his largest commercial property transaction in the U.S. and second largest in his life following an acquisition in London last summer.

The deal is also the largest real estate transaction to take place in Seattle since 2015, when Columbia Center was sold for $711 million (€630 million), the Seattle Times reported.

Ortega acquired Troy Block, which includes two office buildings that are part of Amazon’s campus in Seattle alongside 40 other properties. These are owned by USAA Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of USAA.

The deal follows months of negotiations and is Ortega’s second largest real estate purchase after buying the Adelphi in London from Blackston for nearly £600 million (€702 million) last summer.

The Inditex founder, who invests part of the dividends he receives from the clothing company in real estate, owns the largest real estate company in Spain, focused on buying and leasing large buildings. Its portfolio of real estate assets includes mostly office buildings located in the heart of large cities in Spain, the U.K., France, the U.S. and Asia.

The group’s real estate portfolio is worth €8.75 million, according to its 2017 annual results.

Inditex’s majority shareholder will receive €1.626 billion in dividends this year, up from €1.386 billion last year.