Major Korean investment firm KB Securities and IGIS Asset Management have reportedly pulled the plug on a €1.3 bn deal to buy Credit Suisse’s office headquarters in Switzerland.
According to a news report by publication React News, KB Securities made its decision to pull out of the acquisition of the so-called Uetlihof building due to the rising cost of debt.
The Uetlihof belonged to Credit Suisse until 2012, when it was sold for CHF 1 bn to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management. Credit Suisse is the sole occupier of the building for a rent believed to be around CHF 45 mln a year. The lease for the Uetlihof officially runs until 2037.
Commercial real estate companies SPGI and CBRE have both been tasked with the sale of the property.
Separately, Credit Suisse is believed to be looking for a buyer for the Savoy Hotel on Paradeplatz in the centre of Zurich’s financial district. The almost 200-year-old asset, which could fetch around CHF 400 mln, closed this year to undergo a major refurbishment and will reopen in 2024 as the Hotel Mandarin Oriental Savoy Zurich.
