Risanamento seeks buyers for French trophy assets

Troubled Italian developer Risanamento has mandated Bank Leonardo & Co. to sound out investors' interest in a portfolio of French office assets worth roughly €1 bn.

The company wants to test investors' appetite for the assets, which represent its entire real estate portfolio in France, a spokesperson for Milan-based Risanamento told PropertyEU.

'Bank Leonardo & Co. will hand out the results of these scouting activities at the end of August, and the company will use these as a basis to decide how to proceed ' she added.

Risanamento's French portfolio represents some 50% of its total assets, and a vast majority of its income-producing properties. In total, the company owns 76,700 m2 of offices distributed across nine buildings.

Major properties include 50, Avenue Montaigne, which was bought in 2005 from Unibail Rodamco for €233 mln as well as the Actualis mixed-use building, bought at the market peak in 2006 from Financière Pinault for €230 mln. The office and retail scheme provides 20,000 m2 of space at the corner of Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin and Boulevard Haussmann.

The assets are largely located in the prime Triangle D’Or area, and generated €12.3 mln of rents in the first three months of the year. At year-end 2012, Risanamento's French properties had a market value of €1.05 bn and debt of €757 mln.

Earlier this year, Milan-based developer Risanamento also sold 118 Avenue des Champs-Elysées to Pramerica Real Estate Investors for €135 mln. The deal price was nearly 30% higher than the property's latest appraised value at year-end 2011.

118 Avenue des Champs-Elysées is a multi-let office and retail freehold building which provides 5,000 m2 of Grade A office and retail space fully let to a number of blue chip tenants, including Mercedes Benz, Crédit Mutuel and Helaba.

Risanamento bought the seven-storey property at end 2006 for €92 mln, funding the deal with a €60 mln loan from Eurohypo.