Qatari sovereign wealth fund QIA has reportedly completed the acquisition of the central Paris office building Neo, which houses a section of the US embassy and French national newspaper Le Figaro, for EUR 300 mln.
Qatari sovereign wealth fund QIA has reportedly completed the acquisition of the central Paris office building Neo, which houses a section of the US embassy and French national newspaper Le Figaro, for EUR 300 mln.
The transaction - reported by newspaper Le Parisien and media sources in the Middle East - was initially signalled by PropertyEU in March this year. The 26,700 m2 Neo property, located on 14 Boulevard Haussmann, was one of two assets acquired by Invesco Real Estate on behalf of an unnamed Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund, from German fund manager Kanam in a EUR 600 mln deal.
Le Parisien also reported that Katara Hospitality, formerly known as Qatar National Hotels Company, has acquired a portfolio of four top French hotels for between EUR 700 mln and EUR 750 mln. The vendor was the Groupe du Louvre, a French hotel investor owned by an affiliate of US-based Starwood Capital Group.
The hotels are the 5-star Hôtel du Louvre; the 4-star Hôtel Concorde La Fayette near the Champs-Elysées in the French capital; the 5-star Hôtel Martinez on La Croisette boulevard in Cannes; and the 5-star Hôtel Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice. German lender Aareal provided a EUR 367 mln loan to Groupe du Louvre to refinance the French hotel portfolio in December last year.
Starwood is expected to confirm the hotel sale later this week.
