SNS Property Finance opens Paris office (FR/NL)

On Tuesday 5 June, 2007, the official go-ahead was given for the recently opened first foreign office of SNS Property Finance. This office, located in Paris, bears the same name as its Dutch parent company and is eager to leave its mark on the French property finance market.

France was elected for the large size of both its market and the existing French portfolio of SNS Property Finance.

Arjen van Rijn, General Director of SNS Property Finance International, says, "After many years of mainly financing Dutch developers abroad, SNS Property Finance can now enter into more intensive cooperation with local players. The situation in the French property market in general and the size of the Paris market in particular are important reasons to us for opening the first foreign office in this particular city."

In France, SNS Property Finance offers project financing for the construction of new buildings and inner-city (re)development, trade and bridge financing, facilities for selling off individual units, and land transaction financing. The majority of the existing loans relate to the home and office markets, but the retail and logistics markets are also eligible for financing. The property financier is also preparing to open an office in Washington, DC (USA), and, after France, is expecting to open other European offices in Spain and Germany.

Bruno Girard, Director of the French office, says, "The French property market is really attractive to investors and developers. We are already well-established in France at the moment, in particular in Paris and the surrounding area, and in Southern France. But we expect to be a leading player in the area of project financing in the French market within five years." Girard has set up the Paris office with seven employees, but the office will probably double this number of employees in no time.

Source: SNS Property Finance

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