Hana Financial Investment is reportedly in exclusive talks to purchase Germany's largest office building, The Squaire at Frankfurt Airport, for a price just under €1 bn.
According to a news report by South Korean website Pulse News, the South Korean group along with London-based asset manager AGC Equity Partners, are the preferred bidder of the 143,000 m2 commercial complex which was put up for sale by landlord Blackstone earlier this year.
The deal is expected to be signed imminently.
Blackstone took control of the Squaire through its €3.3 bn acquisition of OfficeFirst in 2016 on behalf of its Real Estate Partners IV fund. At the time the company was the German office platform of Bonn-based real estate company IVG Immobilien, which had gone through insolvency proceedings after cost overruns at its Squaire premises made debt levels unsustainable.
IVG spent €1 bn in 2011 to build the ship-like building. The Squaire represents about 10% of the original 100-strong total portfolio in terms of square meters.
BNP Paribas Real Estate is believed to be advising on the sale.
Hana has been a major spendor in Europe this year. Earlier in 2019 it invested between €225 mln and €250 mln to buy an office property in the Amsterdam business park Sloterdijk, representing a gross initial yield of nearly 5%. It also co-invested in the €370 mln purchase of the Hilton Parkview hotel in Vienna as well as in the €450 mln purchase of the CBX building in Paris-La Défense. Other major purchases were made this year including assets in Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ireland.
