A South Korean consortium comprising fund manager IGIS Asset Management and investor Hana Financial Investment has purchased Trianon, a 45-storey skyscraper in Frankfurt, for €670 mln from NorthStar Realty Europe.
Cushman & Wakefield advised NorthStar on the sale.
'With its distinctive architecture and unique footprint, Trianon is an icon of the Frankfurt skyline. Trianon is perfectly positioned to not only benefit from the projected out-performance of Frankfurt's rental growth, but also from the city’s appeal as a leading global financial centre,' said Richard Tucker, head of capital markets Frankfurt at Cushman & Wakefield.
In September, PropertyEU reported that IGIS Asset Management was exploring a club deal to acquire the asset for a price between €600-650 mln.
Constructed in 1993, the 68,000 m2 skyscraper in Frankfurt's CBD has a distinctive delta shape, topped by a polygonal diamond which, on special occasions, is transformed into a coloured illumination.
Located at Mainzer Landstrasse, in the centre of Frankfurt’s banking district, it is the sixth-highest tower in Frankfurt at 186 metres and comprises 61,304 m2 of office space, in addition to 4,345 m2 of ancillary space and 2,788 m2 residential space.
Since acquiring the asset in July 2015, NorthStar said it had executed value-enhancing initiatives including leasing seven vacant floors and signing a 10-year lease with Deutsche Bundesbank, as well as obtaining a LEED Platinum certification following an extensive refurbishment programme.
The building is currently fully let and benefits from a long average weighted unexpired lease term, in excess of 6.5 years to expiry, with significant German tenants including DekaBank, Deutsche Bundesbank, and Franklin Templeton.
'The sale follows a comprehensive global marketing campaign, which saw the building generating significant interest from a broad spectrum of investors in Europe, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. Our unique insight into the Korean market helped us to secure a high-quality buyer for the asset,' said Argie Taylor, head of APAC cross border capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield.
IGIS Asset Management, South Korea's largest independent real estate fund manager, also struck in Europe last month when it acquired the Nestlé headquarters in the Spanish city of Barcelona for around €87 mln.
Hana meanwhile executed this year's largest UK retail warehouse deal in July when it swooped on the Gallagher shopping park in Wednesbury for £175 mln (€196 mln).
