Lehman Brothers buys €2.11bn Paris office scheme

Lehman Brothers has paid €2.11bn ($2.81bn) for the Coeur Défense office tower in La Défense business district in the west of Paris.

Lehman’s private equity real estate arm joined forces with French property company Atemi to buy the 1.8m sq ft 182,000 sq m scheme of five buildings which is said to have the largest floor space in Europe.

Although not fully occupied, tenants include AXA Investment Managers, Société Générale, Crédit Lyonnais, Microsoft, Cap Gemini and HSBC.

Lehman would not reveal the yield but the scheme was valued at €1.3bn in 2005 when a 51% stake changed hands.

Financial Times