Europe’s largest office complex up for grabs

Coeur Défense, the largest office complex in Europe, has reportedly been put up on the market by its owners ahead of a looming debt maturity.

According to a news report by French paper Le Figaro, the owners of the scheme have hired Morgan Stanley and another undisclosed investment bank to market the flagship 180,000 m2 office complex in Paris' financial business district.

Coeur Défense was last valued at €1.35 bn in September 2012, which is lower than the outstanding principal amount of the loans. The asset is currently 20% vacant.

The landlords - General Electric's pension fund and the vehicle in charge of liquidating assets on behalf of collapsed bank Lehman Brothers - will need to close a deal before 10 July 2014, when the massive €1.6 bn of debt backing the scheme is due to expire.

Coeur Défense was acquired in July 2007 by Lehman Brothers, Atemi and GE Pension Fund for €2.1 bn from Unibail-Rodamco and Goldman Sachs Whitehall Funds, financed by a €1.63 bn five-year senior loan.

Hold, the special purpose vehicle set up by the borrowers, filed for court protection in summer 2008, and the scheme has since been at the centre of a conflict between the owners and the debt holders.

The Versailles Court of Appeal put an end to the legal battle in January last year with a ruling that restored protection to the owners of the flagship office tower.

The protection plan granted owners a further two years until 2014 for the repayment of a CMBS vehicle - Windermere XII - worth some €1.6 bn.