The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has emerged as the buyer of the Ecowest office development project at Levallois-Perret near Paris for €477 mln.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has emerged as the buyer of the Ecowest office development project at Levallois-Perret near Paris for €477 mln.
The complex, which is being developed by BNP Paribas Real Estate, was sold to the White River C Levallois investment vehicle controlled by the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund.
The move will see ADIA significantly strengthen its presence in the French market where it already owns several offices through its Docks Lyonnais unit.
The 58,000 m2 Ecowest complex was designed by architects DGM & Associés and B&B and is mainly let to L'Oreal which agreed to lease 39,000 m2. It consists of two buildings over eight floors which are scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2017.
'This first major transaction of the year 2015 is the sign of the dynamism and the attractivity of the Parisian market. The teams of BNP Paribas Real Estate are particularly proud to have, during the past months, partly rented, begun construction work and sold Ecowest. It is a new example of the relevance of our balanced business model,' said Thierry Laroue-Pont, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Real Estate.
BNP Paribas Real Estate was advised by its French transaction teams, Thibierge & associés Notaries and Cabinet Lacourte Raquin Tatar.
ADIA made its first foray in France in 2012 with the purchase of a portfolio of offices in Lyon for €310 mln and later bought an office building at Boulevard Pasteur in Paris for €252 mln. In late 2013 the investor also acquired Les Docks Lyonnais, the owner of a €750 mln property portfolio in France, from UBS Wealth Management.
Docks Lyonnais' portfolio includes five assets comprising a 24,000 m2 office block at 6-8 Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris currently let to French bank BPI as its headquarters. Other assets are the 65,000 m2 Capitole office block in Nanterre, a 19,000 m2 business park in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris, as well as some retail units in Lyon's Grolée district.
ADIA has been increasingly active in a number of European markets. In November 2012, the fund concluded the largest multi-let asset trade in Belgium since 2008 with the purchase of the Zuiderpoort complex in Ghent, Belgium for around €110 mln. The deal is understood to reflect a yield of 10%.
In Italy, the SWF is part of a consortium which has entered the final stage of bidding for Unicredit’s historic headquarters at Piazza Cordusio 2 in central Milan which was put on the market last year by asset manager IdeaFimit.
ADIA has teamed up with asset manager Hines Italia Sgr and sovereign wealth fund GIC to launch a binding offer for the asset, which is expected to fetch over €350 mln.
The other selected bidders are Blackstone and a joint venture of Italy's Prelios and UK investor London & Regional Properties.
The scheme, known as Palazzo Broggi, dates back to the early 1900s and provides around 50,000 m2 of office space. It is fully let to Unicredit on a 12-year lease but only 30% of the space is actually used by the bank.