Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announces the sale of its Anthemis building complex in Lyon to RREEF Spezial Invest GmbH, a subsidiary of the RREEF fund managed by Deutsche Bank.
The Anthemis complex, located at 118-126 boulevard Vivier Merle in the business district of Lyon, comprises two separate office buildings with a total lettable area of 18,450 m², as well as a restaurant, and was completed in May 2009. It is currently 60% let to two blue chip tenants, SNCF and Oracle. Advanced negotiations are currently underway with a local authority, which would increase occupancy to 75%.
The sale was carried out at a net price of 70.7 million and included guarantees on the lease of the remaining space.Eric Sasson, Managing Director and head of Carlyle's European real estate operations, commented: "The investment market in France is currently experiencing a real improvement in levels of activity, indicating that the fundamentals of this market remain strong."
Maximilien de Wailly, head of RREEF France said: "RREEF is actively looking to invest for our German core funds in assets at prime locations which are secured on a long-term basis with high quality tenants. We will continue to invest in 2010 in recent development properties and stable assets in Paris and prime regional cities".
Carlyle Group was advised by Thierry Vachon of Meudon and by Clifford Chance, and RREEF Spezial Invest GmbH was advised by Wargny & Katz and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Keops brokered the sale.
Source: The Carlyle Group
