A London-based private equity firm has snapped up a marina in the heart of Barcelona, built as part of the city’s 1992 Olympics, with a view to building a super yacht hub to rival Monaco.

Salamanca Capital Investments bought Barcelona Marina, home to about 400 boats, from an infrastructure arm of Spanish construction group FCC. The deal, Salamanca's first in Spain, will be worth about €50m ($65m) over the course of the investment, according to Martin Bellamy, chief executive of Salamanca.