Berenice fund sells assets in Rome for EUR 175m

Italian closed-end real estate investment fund Berenice has sold two office assets in Rome to Immobiliare Caltagirone, a real estate firm owned by Italian contruction tycoon Francesco G. Caltagirone. The transactoin amount comes to EUR 175 mln.

Berenice, which is managed by property fund manager First Atlantic Real Estate and is listed on Milan's stock exchange, said that the properties are almost fully let and are located in Via Tomacelli and Via Bissolati in the Italian capital. They were sold for EUR 78 mln and EUR 96 mln respectively. The company added that the selling price was about EUR 60 mln higher than the properties' open market value appraised by an independent expert at end-June 2008.

Folowing the deal, the fund is distributing EUR 39 mln to its unit holders, or about EUR 64 per each of the 600,000 units the company has issued.