Asset manager DWS has partnered with Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking to complete a €205 mln refinancing secured by the Défense Plaza office scheme in Paris’ La Défense.
The 14-storey building is owned by a fund managed by Northwood Investors and comprises over 31,000 m2 fully let to a diversified tenant base comprising blue chip international companies.
The facility is split between a €175 mln senior facility and a €30 mln mezzanine facility fully syndicated to a debt fund managed by DWS.
‘We are pleased to work alongside Societe Generale to structure a refinancing deal in support of Northwood against this quality asset in La Defense Paris,’ said Alexander Oswatitsch, head of European Real Estate Debt at DWS. He added: ‘This transaction reinforces our ability to provide competitive mezzanine financing solutions across Europe, despite the challenging times.’
‘This transaction further strengthens the already strong relationship we have with DWS, and demonstrates the bank’s capacity to structure complex real estate structured financing in the market,’ commented Jérôme Gatipon-Bachette, co-global head of Real Estate Structured Finance for Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking.
DWS’s European real estate debt business currently manages €1.9 bn in AuM as of March 2020. In 2019, the business most notably completed a sizable mezzanine loan to finance the development of the T1 Tower in Frankfurt, part of the landmark development ‘FOUR Frankfurt’, as well as multiple senior and junior investments across residential and commercial assets in Europe.
