Norges Bank Real Estate Management, which manages property investment for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), has bought a large office and retail property in central Paris for €1bn.
The deal is one of the largest real estate purchases agreed by the NOK7.5trn (€828bn) sovereign wealth fund, which aims to increase its allocation to property to 7% of total assets from around 3.1% now, and increases its French property assets by more than 50% in price terms.
Norges Bank Real Estate Management said it bought 100% of the building in the upmarket fashion district of Vendôme Saint-Honoré in the French capital, located at 9 Place Vendôme and 368-374 rue Saint-Honoré.
The property has 26,800sqm of space, with 80% of this being rentable office space and 20% being rentable retail space.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) said in a brief statement: “Norges Bank Real Estate Management paid €1bn for the property. No financing was used in the acquisition, and the asset will be held unencumbered by debt.”
The deal was signed and completed today, it said.
The GPFG bought the French property from investment vehicles Trajan Luxembourg and Trajan Luxembourg II – both of which are controlled by private investors John Magnier and JP McManus.
Magnier and McManus are both Irish businessmen and racehorse owners.
This is only the second French property the Norwegian fund has bought on its own, without a 50/50 partner.
The first was the Madeleine building the GPFG bought from BlackRock’s Europe Property Fund III in 2014 for €425.6m.
At the end of 2015, the GPFG’s French real estate assets totalled NOK16.5bn.
