Friday, March 24, 2006

West LB Seeking Sale Leaseback of European Office Portfolio

Estates Gazette reports that West LB is looking for a purchaser for 500,000 sq ft of freehold property across Europe. The German bank is the latest occupier looking to capitalise on investor appetite for property as a means of achieving greater flexibility across its estate.

Cushman & Wakefield has been instructed to market the Euro 150 million sale-and-leaseback portfolio, which includes West LB's former headquarters at 51 Moorgate, EC2. The rest of the portfolio is made up of head offices in Paris, Luxembourg, Milan, Istanbul and Hong Kong, and three German offices in Bonn, Dortmund and Dusseldorf. It will lease back around 80% of the portfolio by rental value on five- to 10-year leases. West LB's present leasehold headquarters at Woolgate Exchange, EC2, which Bankhaus Woelbern is selling, is not part of the deal. The proposed sale is part of a wider review of the bank's property needs.

West LB will join a growing list of occupiers selling off their freeholds for strategic reasons, such as ABN AMRO and Abbey. Sphere: Related Content

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