The Bank of Italy began to sell off its properties vacated following the reorganization of its branch network in 2008-09. This activity has become increasingly significant with the closure of 57 branches, involving more than 100 buildings. These buildings mostly housed the Bank’s branches, primarily comprising offices but also a number of residential units. The remainder of the properties were mostly for residential use.
In view of the intensification of this activity, in 2014 the Bank adopted a sales strategy for its properties; since then, sales of more than half of the properties available have been completed and others are nearing completion. The sales strategy has ensured that the properties sold will be used by local communities and/or to support the local economy.
Although the Bank of Italy is not bound by the rules concerning the divestment of public property, the sales procedures it has put in place comply with the principles of transparency, cost-effectiveness and impartiality, and ensure adequate safeguards against corruption.
In particular, to ensure it derives maximum value from real-estate assets while guaranteeing the impartiality and transparency of the divestment process, the Bank widely publicizes the sale of its properties and adopts suitable procedures for completing the sales transactions.
The Bank does not use the services of real estate agents or brokers. Real estate agencies are involved on an exceptional basis and only for sales of individual residential units with no exclusivity clause.
To guarantee maximum publicity of the sales procedures, the properties owned by the Bank are listed on this website (with specific indications on which ones are for sale). There is also a list of properties for which specific expressions of interest have been received (‘Featured properties for sale’).
The sales procedures are defined according to a strategy based on the characteristics of each individual property and of the related real estate markets. There are two types of procedure: the notice of sale procedure and the direct negotiation procedure.
The notice of sale procedure is used for properties for which several expressions of interest have been received, ensuring that the maximum number of potential buyers have been informed. In fact, in addition to the institutional website, the Bank uses other advertising channels to publish the notices such as specialized web portals and national, local and industry press. These channels are used to ensure maximum awareness of the sale initiatives.
The notice of sale is structured in two mandatory phases followed, if necessary, by a third one, and requires the publication of an ad hoc notice of sale. No minimum sale price is communicated.
In the first phase, after acquiring the necessary information and, if requested, inspecting the property, the interested parties submit a non-binding expression of interest in purchasing the property with no security deposit.
In the second phase, once the Bank has evaluated the expressions of interest, also taking into account the offer price, the bidders deemed suitable are invited to submit a binding offer together with a security deposit of the amount established in the sale notice within a given deadline. In the invitation to the bidders, the value of the highest price offered is communicated.
A minimum fair value of the property to be sold is defined after the deadline for submitting offers has expired and before the sealed bids are opened. This process involves independent external experts – including the State Property Agency, which may be requested to issue a technical opinion – and an Internal Commission set up for this specific purpose.
The binding purchase offers are opened in the presence of the bidders upon communication of the minimum fair value; offers can be accepted only where they are equal to or greater than the fair value. In the event of multiple offers exceeding the fair value, an auction is held and the property is assigned to the highest bidder. If no offers are higher than the minimum fair value, the bidders are allowed to offer at least the fair value. If several participants adjust their offer price to the minimum fair value, an auction is held among them; the auction ends with the assignment of the property to the highest bidder.
In addition to the notice of sale procedure, the Bank also takes into consideration expressions of interest received directly from parties who wish to purchase its properties; these are processed by direct negotiation. The Bank welcomes expressions of interest from institutional entities and investors who promote local development initiatives.
Even in the case of direct negotiation, the transaction can only be concluded if the value of the offer is not lower than the minimum fair value defined as described above.
In both procedures (notice of sale and direct negotiation) the offers received are submitted for approval to the Governing Board and Board of Directors of the Bank if they are considered fair, and the buyer is required to pay a deposit equal to 20 per cent of the price. The stipulation of the purchase agreement is in any case subject to the outcome of the checks on the accuracy of the declarations made by the purchaser in the course of the sales procedure.
