United Benefits Holding has acquired the City Tower Vienna on behalf of Euro Real Estate from Immofinanz.
According to the parties, the deal marks the largest office transaction in Austria this year at a deal volume of just over €150 mln.
United Benefits Holding realised the acquisition through an individual mandate and will now take over the asset management of the scheme.
Thanks to an early demonstration of taxonomy eligibility, United Benefits Holding was also able to optimise the financing conditions of the deal with a major domestic bank.
The tower has 24 upper and 4 underground floors with roughly 26,600 m2 of usable space as well as 100 underground parking spaces. It is leased in its entirety to the Republic of Austria and houses Wien Mitte's judiciary centre.
Michael Klement, CEO of United Benefits Holding, said: 'The City Tower Vienna is an iconic property that has become a landmark on Vienna’s skyline.
'The success of our efforts in identifying and realising an investment opportunity of this size in the current difficult market phase underscores the confidence of institutional investors in our company. The tower is a landmark property, which we plan to develop with a top tenant into a green asset over the coming years.
'From the deal sourcing to transaction management and active asset management, this project is further proof of concept for our integrated service portfolio.'
The 87 metre complex comprises a high-rise tower with a rotated head structure and two partially elevated side buildings, each with a height of 28 metres.
It is located at a central site on the Marxergasse, directly near the urbane Wien Mitte railway station, one of the most important inner city traffic hubs with stations for the U3 and U4 underground lines, the rapid transit railway, long-distance trains, the CAT and numerous tram and bus lines.
Ralf Peter, managing director of Euro Real Estate, added: 'The acquisition of the City Tower Vienna by Euro Real Estate underscores our commitment to sustainable and stable value investments in first-class properties.
'This acquisition demonstrates our confidence in the Vienna market and our strategy to invest in trophy assets that create long-term value for the Wilhelm von Finck Group.'
Added Radka Doehring, member of the Immofinanz executive board: “The successful sale of the City Tower Vienna shows that we are making very good progress with our strategic sales programme. We were able to sell this landmark property at an attractive price around book value.
'In line with our strategy, we plan to invest the proceeds in higher yielding retail and office properties to create additional value.'
United Benefits Holding and its subsidiaries were responsible for the deal sourcing, structuring and financing of the transaction as well as the due diligence and contract negotiations.
Professional support was provided by Schönherr Rechtsanwälte (legal); TPA Unternehmensberatung (tax), United Climate (ESG check) and Salzmann Capital (financing).
The transaction was brokered by EHL Investment Consulting.
