Grosvenor has returned to the French office market after a four-year absence
The Duke of Westminster’s property company, which owns properties throughout the world, has acquired 68 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris in a joint venture with Dutch pension fund ABP for €112.5m (£78m).
The vendor, German open-ended property fund manager Deka, was advised by Horizon Asset Management France.
The 104,410 sq ft (9,700 sq m) property comprises two interconnected buildings divided by a landscaped garden. Refurbished in 1996, it is fully let to several tenants, including law firms Skadden and Morgan Lewis, serviced office provider Regus and fashion designer Roberto Cavalli.
‘This acquisition represents an important step in our strategy to diversify our current portfolio in continental Europe and to return to the French office market we exited in 2002,’ said Steve Cowen, investment director for Grosvenor Continental Europe.
‘Our investment programme targets Paris and the three major French cities, Lyon, Marseille and Lille.’
In continental Europe, Grosvenor manages its business from its offices in Paris, Madrid and Luxembourg. Its core markets are France, Iberia and Italy, where at the end of 2005 it had €2.2bn (£1.5bn) of assets under management.