Quantum and LaSalle finance Paris investment

Helaba has issued a €95m loan to Quantum Global Real Estate and LaSalle Investment Management to finance their acquisition of Tour Blanche in Paris.

The facility reflects a 59% loan-to-value ratio on the €161m purchase price. Helaba acted as arranger, sole lender and hedging provider.

LaSalle and Swiss-based asset manager Quantum invest on behalf of Plaza Global Real Estate Partners a vehicle for Angola’s sovereign wealth fund, Fundo Soberano Angolano. Plaza buys prime, mainly office investments in major international cities using conservative gearing.

The 25,783 sq m, 27-storey Tour Blanche was bought from Perella Weinberg Real Estate. It is fully let to ERDF, a subsidiary of electricity provider EDF on a nine-year lease. Situated in La Défense, and one of the first buildings developed there, it was formerly known as AIG-Chartis and underwent a €41m refurbishment that was completed in March.

Simon Marrison, Europe chief executive, LaSalle said: “Tour Blanche is an exceptional asset in an established and liquid market with strong growth potential for a long-term investor such as Plaza. It is well-located within a five minute walk of the main transport hub and offers high quality green office space following a full refurbishment” He said the  letting to ERDF “will ensure a long-term, secured income stream.”

Helaba wrote €4bn of new real estate business in the first half of the year and its total book stands at €33bn.  The German bank has been looking to ramp up its activity in France, appointing Renaud Jezequel to run its lending business in the country in May, replacing Roland Fuchs who had left to become Allianz Real Estate’s European head of real estate finance.

Tour Blanche is Helaba’s second large financing in Paris in quick succession. Earlier this month the bank underwrote a €280m debt package for a Korean investment group put together by IGIS Asset Management to buy the Sanofi headquarters at 54 rue La Boetie. Helaba  simultaneiously syndicated a €97m mezzanine tranche to a Korean debt fund comprising about half a dozen Korean investors, including insurance company Hanwha Life.