by iain withers

London (Reuters) – Blackstone is one of the preselected candidates to acquire a more than a hundred years old office building in Paris for an amount of $ 700 million ($ 800 million), a source said to Reuters.

This operation would constitute one of the largest sales of offices in Europe since the Cavid-19 pandemic.

The Paris-Trocadéro Business Center building, built in 1913 and located in the 16th arrondissement, near the Arc de Triomphe, was sold in March by its owner, the German Union Investment.

Real estate investor Hines was also selected, while Commerz Real, owned by the German Bank Commerzbank, presented an offer that has not been retained, according to separate sources.

The prices of office buildings collapsed due to the Pandemic of COVID-19, which upset the work habits, but the requests for return to face-to-face began to improve the market situation, investors interested in buildings considered as trophies in sought-after places.

The Paris-Trocadéro Business Center building, 41,234 square meters, also includes 57 luxury apartments, restaurants and cafes. It originally belonged to the French Bank Société Générale before being sold in Union Investment in 2003.

Investors have submitted offers in recent days, some of which are lower than the price requested and closer to 650 million euros, according to the first source. The process is still in progress and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be concluded.

A Union Investment spokesperson confirmed that the company had preselected investors and that it had excluded the offers of less than 650 million euros. He refused to comment on the various candidates.

Blackstone, Hines and Commerz Real did not wish to comment.

(Report by Iain Withers, Benjamin Mallet, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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