French fund manager Stam Europe has acquired a 12,000 m[sup]2[/sup] office building in Nanterre in the first arrondissement of Paris from HSBC bank. The investment price amounted to EUR 45 mln. ‘We are going to restructure the vacant property and start the leasing activity. We think that this is an interesting play, buying into outdated buildings with good locations to reposition them and make them energy-efficient,’ Antoine de Broglie, chairman of Stam Europe, said in an interview with PropertyEU.

French fund manager Stam Europe has acquired a 12,000 m2 office building in Nanterre in the first arrondissement of Paris from HSBC bank. The investment price amounted to EUR 45 mln. ‘We are going to restructure the vacant property and start the leasing activity. We think that this is an interesting play, buying into outdated buildings with good locations to reposition them and make them energy-efficient,’ Antoine de Broglie, chairman of Stam Europe, said in an interview with PropertyEU.

The closing, which was signed on Friday, was made on behalf of the EUR 700 mln Stam REI III fund. The acquisition is one of the last for the fund, which raised equity of EUR 250 mln and has just EUR 30 mln of equity still available for investment. The vehicle makes use of 65% of leverage.

De Broglie said the company expects to reach the first closing for its Stam Rei V fund by the end of the year. The fund will have a value-added profile and will seek to raise equity of up to EUR 400 mln from investors, giving it spending power of well over EUR 1 bn. At first close, Stam Europe plans to raise up to EUR 120 mln from European institutional investors. ‘At present, we smell more opportunities in Germany and Italy rather than in France, especially for medium-sized deals of EUR 25-70 mln. In France, there is a two-tier market with a strong focus on core while we like to be more opportunistic,' commented De Broglie on the new fund's investment focus.

In Italy, sources say the company is close to clinching the EUR 240 mln acquisition of the Comune di Milano I real estate fund from BNP Paribas REIM, in partnership with Area Property Partners.