CBRE sells EUR 120m Italian office package

CBRE has been awarded a mandate to manage the disposal of a EUR 120 mln prime office portfolio in Italy on behalf of fund manager BNP Paribas REIM .

In a statement, CBRE said it has been appointed by the Paris-based company on an exclusive basis to market nine office buildings located in the historic centres of the cities of Rome, Florence, Siena, Naples, Foggia, Mestre, Vicenza, Padua and Verona. All the properties, except a vacant asset in Siena, are occupied by Italy's public administrations with a renewable nine-year lease.

The assets are part of the closed-end Patrimonio Uno fund for institutional investors, planned for liquidation by year-end 2017. The vehicle was established in 2005 with the transfer of 75 state-owned assets in a major operation backed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The disposal process, known as Project 1, will be launched in the next weeks. 'We will start a nation-wide marketing campaign for the assets, which we believe could be of interest to a number of investors, especially local private parties,' said Paolo Bellacosa, Executive Director Capital Markets at CBRE. The properties, which will be sold individually, are expected to attract a high level of interest due to the central location and the security of the tenant base, he added.

CBRE plans to close the disposal of the properties by the third quarter of 2013.