French investment manager Primonial REIM France alongside its partner Société Générale Assurances has acquired the Window office complex located in La Défense, Paris for over €500 mln from Canadian fund Oxford Properties.
The Window building comprises close to 45,000 m2 of office space and was fully renovated in 2018. The sole tenant is RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Electricité), France’s transmission system operator, under a fixed 12-year lease.
Local agents believe the initial yield on the transaction is just under 4%.
The asset overlooks the “Westfield Les 4 Temps” in La Défense, and has obtained the HQE Excellent and BREEAM Excellent environmental certifications.
Amenities include staff restaurants and cafeterias; a brasserie; a conference centre; a business lounge; a fitness centre; a concierge service; and two large atriums.
Grégory Frapet, chairman of Primonial REIM France, said: 'We are delighted with this new major real estate transaction completed alongside Société Générale Assurances.
'The acquisition of the Window building is among the largest transactions in volume terms to have taken place in the office property market so far this year and yet another example of our capacity to take up positions on large-scale operations on behalf of our investor-clients.
'The transaction is also testament to our strong convictions about the office property market and to our investment strategy, which is geared towards building up positions in sizeable head offices located in the heart of the Greater Paris region and occupied by large corporate tenants.'
Yann Briand, head of real estate at Société Générale Assurances: 'The acquisition of the Window building is fully consistent with the strategy adopted by Société Générale Assurances in our capacity as a responsible investor geared towards investing in highly energy-efficient real estate.
'The asset’s intrinsic qualities will secure reversibility and resilience for the property over the long term. We are delighted to have partnered up with Primonial REIM France and worked together on adding value to this property.'
Pierre Leocadio, head of investments Europe at Oxford Properties said: 'We are delighted to have worked with the teams at Primonial REIM France and Société Générale Assurances who approached us off-market.
'The sale of Window sends out a strong signal about the La Défense market and we intend to reinvest the proceeds from this sale in new transactions targeting new sectors with a view to diversifying our portfolio, which we would like to double in size within the next 5 years.'
Primonial REIM France and Société Générale Assurances were advised by the Clifford Chance law firm (legal aspects), the Cheuvreux consultancy (notarial aspects), ARC (technical aspects), Mazars (accounting) and KPMG (taxation).
The transaction was carried out together with BNP Paribas Real Estate.
Oxford Properties was advised for the purposes of this transaction by the Lacourte Raquin Tatar law firm (legal aspects), the Lasaygues consultancy (notarial aspects), the Bredin Prat consultancy (taxation) and Denjean (accounting).
