Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo, Coima sign real estate deal

ROME (Reuters) - Intesa San Paolo has agreed to transfer a 500 million euro ($537 million) property portfolio to investment vehicles managed by real estate firm Coima, Italy's largest bank said on Friday.

The move is part of Intesa's "smart management" strategy for its real estate assets, aimed at enlarging its main offices but downsizing the total surface area of its other Italian properties.

The bank aims to cut its portfolio by 21% to 3.2 million square metres (sqm) in 2025 from 4.05 million sqm in 2021 under its most recent 5-year business plan.

The Coima companies will manage three prime locations in Rome and Milan city centres and other properties in cities including Turin, Bologna, Padua and Florence, which still need to be vacated or sold.

"The agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo is an important result in the path undertaken (by Coima) and is an accelerator for growth, following our shared objectives," Coima CEO Manfredi Catella said.

Coima manages around 30 real estate funds, for a total of 10 billion euros in investments.

The two companies will consider further areas for partnership in real estate, they said in a statement.

($1 = 0.9314 euros)

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Gavin Jones and Jason Neely)