GIC buys grade-A office tower in Paris

Singapore

GIC has acquired a grade-A office tower in Paris, France, which will present opportunities for value creation, the sovereign wealth fund said.

Located in the La Défense business district in Paris, PB6 is a 40-storey asset with 60,000 square metres of prime office space, and is fully leased to French utility company EDF. It did not disclose the price tag for the acquisition.

PB6 offers direct access to multiple amenities and a multi-modal public transport hub, the sovereign wealth fund said in a release.

GIC said: "The asset presents attractive value creation opportunities, which GIC expects to capture by investing to enhance the asset and service offering. This is in line with GIC's strategy, as a long-term investor, to acquire and add value to quality assets in gateway cities."

The asset will be managed by BauMont Real Estate Capital.

GIC has over US$100 billion in assets under management worldwide. In October last year, it announced it was acquiring another office tower, also in the La Défense business district, for around 465 million euros. That property, the 40-storey Tour Ariane has a gross lettable area of 64,500 square metres and is also managed by BauMont Real Estate Capital.

At the time, GIC said Tour Ariane offered "multiple value creation opportunities over the long term" which GIC planned to capture by investing in the asset to enhance it.

GIC purchased the Tour Ariane from European real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.