Spanish-turned-Singaporean tycoon Ricardo Portabella has sold a portfolio of six conservation shophouses in Stanley Street for a total sum of S$82.4 million.

He bought the properties between 2014 and 2019 for about S$75 million.

They are now owned by affiliates of Singapore-based real estate investment firm Clifton Partners, which was set up in 2011.

The shophouses were sold in separate deals. For all the transactions, the seller was Singapore-incorporated Anpora Real Estate, of which Portabella and his son Ricardo Jr Portabella are the directors. The company has an issued capital of slightly more than S$127.7 million; it has no current charges.

Five of the six shophouses, at 8, 15, 16, 17 and 30 Stanley Street, are freehold; these were transacted in February 2025. The sixth property, at 29 Stanley Street, is on a site with 99-year leasehold tenure from December 1990, leaving a balance of 64 years; this property was transacted in March 2025.

All six transactions were completed in July.

The Portabella family has been investing in properties in Singapore since 2008, based on an article in The Straits Times in 2022 quoting Ricardo Jr Portabella. At the time, the family had 13 shophouses in its portfolio.

The Business Times understands that following the sale of the six Stanley Street properties, the Portabella family is left with two properties in the shophouse segment: 120 and 122 Telok Ayer Street.

Pick-up in sentiment

Industry watchers say that investment sentiment in the Singapore conservation shophouse market is more positive these days compared with the mood following US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement in April.

The significantly lower interest rate environment, compared with that in early last year, is also helping to boost buying interest in shophouses.

That said, the leasing market for this asset class has been challenging, with some tenants defaulting rental payments due to poor business, resulting in landlords having to repossess the property.

The Portabella family also owns the Finova Group, a boutique corporate services provider. Ricardo Jr Portabella is its chairman and chief executive officer.

Market watchers suggest that the sale of the Stanley Street shophouses could reflect a realignment of the family’s global investment portfolio.

Philanthropic deeds

In 2022, the Portabella family donated 141 Neil Road, an 1880s conservation townhouse it had bought in 2020, to the National University of Singapore for use as a training centre and architectural conservation laboratory.

The family also donated S$2 million towards the building’s repair and conservation works.

In 1996, the senior Portabella set up a foundation in Luxembourg in honour of his grandfather Luis Portabella, with the aim of financing higher education and rewarding research through awards and scholarships.

Luis Portabella started his career as a business leader in 1940, and was associated mainly with Danone. Until his death, he was one of the most important shareholders as well as chairman of the company, according to the foundation’s website.