Spain's Santander close to HQ sale-papers

MADRID, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC) is close to selling its headquarters for up to 2 billion euros ($2.97 billion) with Metrovacesa (MVC.MC), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) or an Australian fund the possible buyers, Spanish newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Newspaper Expansion said Santander was about to sell the campus site just outside Madrid for 2 billion euros, 200 million euros more than analysts' most optimistic forecasts, before leasing it back.

The deal would be concluded before February and would include an agreement for Santander to lease the headquarters from the buyer for 35-40 years, said the paper, citing sources close to the deal.

Rival paper La Gaceta also reported that Santander was on the verge of selling the site in Boadilla del Monte and said that three offers had been presented: from Metrovacesa, which bought HSBC's London headquarters last April, Goldman Sachs and an Australian fund.

A spokesman for Santander declined to comment on how much the headquarters was expected to fetch or the potential buyers.

A London-based property broker familiar with the transaction told Reuters other players were also involved in the bidding and Santander was hoping for a swift resolution to its real-estate asset sell-off, announced in June.

Santander said then it would sell assets for an estimated 4 billion euros and a potential net capital gain of around 1.4 billion euros and would lease back the property.

It has already netted 2.04 billion euros after selling 1,152 bank branches and other buildings in Spain to a company owned by British insurer Pearl Group in November, a deal that generated capital gains of 860 million euros.

In the same month, it also sold 10 buildings to an investment vehicle owned by Armancio Ortega, the founder of retailer Zara, for 458 million euros, making a capital gain of 216 million euros.

(Reporting by Ben Harding and Sarah Morris; Editing by David Cowell)