AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (“AXA Real Estate”), acting on behalf of AXA France Insurance Companies, and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, announce that they have agreed to acquire the SZ Tower in Munich for an anticipated price of €164.1 million from Prime Office REIT-AG.
The SZ Tower is a 62,200 m², 28 story, prime office building in Munich which is fully let to, and serves as, the headquarters of a German publishing group. SZ Tower was the first office building in Germany to be awarded with a Gold LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for sustainable construction.
The transaction, which is expected to complete before the year-end, gives each partner in the joint venture a 50 percent stake in the building. AXA Real Estate is the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe, with over €45 billion of assets under management as of September 2013.
Matthias Leube, Head of Real Estate Germany, AXA Real Estate, comments: "To have acquired such a high quality and well-designed prime asset, which offers strong long term income characteristics, in a competitive market for Core investments, particularly in Munich, demonstrates our ability to execute high quality transactions for our investors.”
Pierre Vaquier, Chief Executive of AXA Real Estate, added: “Growing our real estate business in Germany is a strategic priority for us and we will continue to look for further investment opportunities on behalf of our clients. We are also very pleased to continue our relationship with NBIM, demonstrating our ability to work with the world’s leading investors."
