Fubon Life makes first foray in mainland Europe with Brussels purchase

Taiwanese insurer Fubon Life has emerged as the buyer of Brussels' Ellipse building in a share deal with developer AG Real Estate.

The €125 mln deal represents the first foray in Continental Europe for Fubon, which has €64 bn of assets under management.

Savills advised Fubon and AG Real Estate was jointly advised by Jones Lang LaSalle and CBRE.

Fubon entered London in November 2014 with the acquisition of an office property at One Carter Lane for €178 mln. Acting through Patrizia Immobilien, Fubon recently acquired the home of Madame Tussauds, the world famous wax museum in London, for £332.5 mln (€489 mln) in cash reflecting a yield of 4.7%.

The Ellipse building, located in the north district, was built in 2006 by AG Real Estate and Immobel (CIB). The building provides 50,342 m2 of office and multi-use space, 2,573 m2 for archives and 279 parking units. It is fully rented to two public entities: the Flemish Community occupies about 90% of the building and IBPT (l’Institut Belge des Services Postaux et des Télécommunications), the remainder. The building offers a guaranteed cash flow for nine years.

Serge Fautré, CEO of AG Real Estate said: 'The sale to a Taiwanese investor is both a sign of the market’s internationalisation and of the appeal of Belgium, and particularly of Brussels, as an office market.'