Spanish insurance firm Mapfre has sold its data center in Madrid.

CBRE’s Spanish unit this week announced on LinkedIn that it advised Mapfre on the sale of its 10MW facility in Alcalá de Henares.

Terms of the sale-leaseback deal – including the buyer – weren’t provided.

Reports that the insurance firm was looking to sell the site surfaced last year. More than 30 bidders were said to be interested.

Set on 16,000 sqm (172,220 sq ft) with 24,000 sqm (258,330 sq ft) of technical space, the data center was inaugurated by Mapfre in 2013. Uptime lists a Tier III-certified facility – CPD Mapfre Tales de Mileto – as owned by Mapfre.

Paul Mortlock, senior director and head of European data center capital markets at CBRE, said: "CBRE's European data center capital markets team are really pleased to have represented Spanish insurance company Mapfre on the sale and partial leaseback of its turnkey data center facility in Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, at a time when we are seeing high levels of new tenant demand in the Madrid area. There was significant interest in this asset from a range of different operators.”

Elliot Zounon, director of data centers at CBRE Spain, added: "This operation becomes a milestone in the Spanish market and highlights the investor interest in the Data Center sector, which is at a time of great development and dynamism."

Pérez-Llorca provided legal advice on the deal.

Mapfre began construction of the data center in 2012 as it sought to triple the data storage space alongside other facilities the group had in Miami, Florida; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Webster, Massachusetts.

Last year's reports suggested that Mapfre no longer viewed its ownership of the data center as ‘strategic’ to the company, but was aiming to keep its IT equipment in the facility and remain as a tenant of the potential buyer. Part of the infrastructure was reportedly already leased to technology firms such as IBM.