French property investment firm AffiParis has acquired the Tour Bercy in Paris for EUR 44mln from Affine, its largest shareholder. The building is located on the banks of the river Seine on a major thoroughfare very close to the Gare de Lyon train station.
French property investment firm AffiParis has acquired the Tour Bercy in Paris for EUR 44mln from Affine, its largest shareholder. The building is located on the banks of the river Seine on a major thoroughfare very close to the Gare de Lyon train station.
The highrise building offers 7,376 m2 of office space and 308 parking spaces on five underground levels. The building has been leased to French railway company SNCF since 1997, on a lease which was renewed for a fixed term of nine years in 2006.
AffiParis, a French real estate investment trust (SIIC), said the acquisition is in line with its strategy of focusing on Paris assets generating high returns. Alain Chaussard, chairman and CEO of AffiParis, said: 'Since our creation just a year ago, AffiParis has managed to gain the industry's recognition as one of the key players on the Paris property market. In 2008, we will try and reinforce our image with institutional investors, especially abroad, by keeping up the growth momentum of our assets and by completing our specialisation strategy with the ongoing disposal of the remaining non-Parisian assets in our portfolio.'
AffiParis invested nearly EUR 70mln in the first half of the year. Following the purchase of the Tour Bercy, the company's assets stand at EUR 236mln, providing a total 80,000 m2 of space. About 84% of AffiParis' assets are located in central Paris.
