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PE firm seeks partners for Intu buyout; GIC to pay €530M for Paris tower

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PE firm seeks partners for Intu buyout; GIC to pay €530M for Paris tower

* Private equity firm Orion Capital Managers LP is in early stage discussions to find a partner to buy out London-based mall landlord Intu Properties PLC, The Sunday Times reported. A takeover bid could help the real estate investment trust avoid breaching covenants on roughly £1.1 billion of debt in the near future, the publication reported, citing a source close to the situation and analysts at broker Stifel.

* Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC is reportedly close to buying Tower PB6 in Paris' La Défense district for €530 million from French insurance group CNP Assurances, Business Immo reported, citing unnamed sources. The roughly 60,000-square-meter office property is occupied by EDF, which is looking to vacate about 15,000 square meters of space ahead of its lease expiry at the end of 2023.

UK

* Aviva Investors bought the freehold interest in a 22-story apart-hotel scheme in London through its Lime Property Fund for £150 million, according to propertyfundsworld. The scheme in Aldgate will have about 190 apartments, coworking space, a gym, cafe, private restaurant, bar, and members club with a garden and terrace.

The asset is expected to open in early 2020.

* Atlas Residential plans to invest $150 million in the U.K. student housing sector to take advantage of the sector's distress and the expected exits of "inexperienced" operators from underperforming assets, Property Week reported. The company's affiliate, Atlas Residential Holdings (Hong Kong), plans to invest $1 billion to establish a build-to-rent portfolio in the U.K., U.S. and China, the report added.

* U.S.-based CA Ventures received a £64 million loan from Investec Structured Property Finance for its student housing development debut in the U.K., IPE Real Assets reported. The financing will fund the development of 888 purpose-built student accommodation beds in the university cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Sheffield, with the schemes slated for completion for the start of the 2020-2021 academic year.

Germany, Sweden and France

* U.K.-based Henderson Park and Swiss Life Asset Management are close to buying the Kustermannpark office complex in Munich for €350 million, according to Business Immo, which cited German property media. Henderson Park will first buy the entire 75,000-square-meter asset, after which Swiss Life is expected to buy one of the main buildings of the seven-building complex.

* Swedish fund manager Areim is selling the 39,000-square-meter Brädstapeln 16 property in Stockholm to KPA Pension for 4.3 billion Swedish kronor, Business Immo reported. The property serves as the headquarters of Insurance Group Trygg-Hansa. The asset comprises an eight-story brick building, three glass sections, a two-story pavilion and a park. The sale is expected to be completed in November.

* Germany-based Patrizia AG said it acquired a newly built logistics warehouse in Andrézieux-Bouthéon, near Saint-Étienne, France, for an undisclosed price. The full let property, spanning 61,000 square meters, was acquired on behalf of a pan-European logistics fund from Goodman France.

Spain and Poland

* Moody's said the outlook on Spanish commercial real estate companies is positive going into 2020 as demand for office space, which is limited in supply, increases with the country's strengthening economy and declining unemployment. The rating agency expects the credit quality of Inmobiliaria Colonial SOCIMI SA and Merlin Properties to improve as the companies maintain conservative financial policies.

* Two real estate funds managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management received an investment loan and a VAT facility of €90 million from pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank to acquire the Astoria office building in Warsaw from Strabag, Europe Real Estate reported. The 10-story property in the central business district is fully let and spans more than 19,000 square meters.

Middle East

* Doha Bank QSC CEO Raghavan Seetharaman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that Qatari banks have relaxed repayment terms on real estate loans as property prices in the country have been hurt by the Saudi Arabia-led standoff with Qatar. Seetharaman maintained that home prices are undergoing a "minor correction" while retail real estate prices have fared well as banks exercise caution in overall lending for real estate.

Citing central bank data, the news outlet noted that overall real estate prices in the country have dropped 23% since November 2015, which Seetharaman termed as "just a correction" and not a collapse. Office prices in the capital, Doha, have dropped between 50% to 60% since June 2017 when a number of countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and closed transport routes, the CEO said.

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