Spain's largest bank Santander is close to sealing a deal to sell its property holdings for a total of about 4 billion euros ($5.65 billion), banking sources said on Wednesday, confirming newspaper reports.

The bank, which said in June that its objective was to sell the holdings which have divided into five blocks, is close to agreeing a deal to sell the most prominent buildings to Amancio Ortega, owner of Inditex.

These include 44 large buildings but do not include the bank's historic headquarters in Santander.

Other buildings, including the bank's giant Boadilla del Monte installation and its branches, are also the subject of offers from other investors.

The sale will help Santander finance its nearly 20 billion euro share of the consortium purchase of Dutch bank ABN-AMRO.

As part of the financing for the purchase, which will give Santander valuable assets in Italy and Brazil, the bank has issued 7 billion euros of convertible bonds and plans a capital raising.

ABN Amro Sale