SNCF, France’s national rail company, is seeking to sell a €1.5 bn portfolio put together from its extensive social housing estates, the latest edition of EuoProperty has revealed.
SNCF has appointed JLL to launch the sale and will be inviting bids for the assets in a structure in which the rail company is expected to keep 10-15% of the equity in the deal.
A source with knowledge of the portfolio said: ‘These are large apartment blocks let to tenants in some fantastic locations, with the majority in Paris and some in other cities such as Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille. This will be an important transaction this year.’
France’s institutional private rental sector is small compared to neighbouring Germany or even the Netherlands, but institutional investors are increasingly interested in getting exposure to it. Sources therefore believe that the portfolio, which is not let on regulated rents, could attract significant interest from both French and international investors.
At Mipim, BNP Paribas REIM’s head Barbara Knoflach told EuroProperty there is a clear need for more institutionally-managed residential-for-rent in France and that her firm had secured two debut sites to move into the sector for the first time by developing its own product. Greystar is another large investor interested in residentialfor-rent. The US giant is targeting France next in its European roll-out, following acquisitions in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Germany.
CBRE’s senior director in residential capital markets, Sebastien Lorrain, said: ‘A lot of investors have been waiting for more externalisation of social housing in France. We think this is the beginning, and there will be other portfolios transferring from the public sector to private ownership.’
_______________________________________________________________
This article first appeared in EuroProperty, a PropertyEU weekly publication
