Belgian REIT Cofinimmo has put forward its complex sale of the North Galaxy office complex in Brussels to Danish pension fund ATP and AXA Belgium for €475 mln as a candidate for PropertyEU's Deal of the Decade awards programme.
The sale of the 151,000 m2 headquarters of the Belgian Ministry of Finance in May 2014 involved several notable angles. The investment, reflecting a gross initial yield of 5.64%, was the largest single asset deal in Belgium, the single largest direct real estate investment by ATP Real Estate outside Denmark, and the largest international single real estate investment by any Danish institutional investor.
The deal also marked the start of ATP's move into direct real estate investment outside its domestic market following the reversal of its previous strategy to go direct only in Denmark and invest through non-listed funds for international exposure. The international fund business is being wound down.
North Galaxy comprises two high-rises of 28 storeys each and a third six-storey building. It also includes 16,400 m2 of archives and 611 inside parking spaces. The rental income comes to €26.8 mln annually.
Cofinimmo had acquired the property for €390 mln in 2005 and sold on the 18-year 'lease receivables' to Fortis (now BNP Paribas) for €344 mln. The lease contract with Fortis was extended by a further nine years in 2012.
Two years later, the main challenges for Cofinimmo was to re-acquire the rights to the rental income from BNP Paribas and creating a favourable taxation plan in order to sell the complex on to ATP Real Estate and AXA Real Estate. The Danish pension fund took a 90% stake in the deal, with the Belgian business of French insurer AXA taking ownership of the remainder.
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The submissions period for Deal of the Decade are now closed. PropertyEU has now collected over 120 entries. Our project team is drawing up a shortlist for the different categories ahead of a readers’ vote in the autumn. There will also be a formal jury vote. The Deal of the Decade Awards will be presented during a ceremony in Amsterdam in December.
