Korea Investment & Securities Co. will buy the European Parliament building located in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, for about 250 billion won ($207 million).

According to investment bank sources Sunday, a consortium of Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Hana Asset Management Co. has decided to purchase Square de Meeus 8, an office building in the Leopold Quarter. The consortium, which was recently picked as the preferred bidder, plans to raise additional funds from institutional investors and acquire the building by the first half of this year.

The price offered by Korea Investment & Securities is estimated at about 250 billion won. Of this, 110 billion won will be put forward by the real estate fund led by Hana Asset Management including Korea Investment & Securities and other domestic institutional investors and the remaining in loans. The property is expected to yield 6 to 7 percent returns a year.

Square de Meeus 8, an eleven-storey office building with 39,710 square meters of space, is in a very sought-after location in the heart of the European quarter. The building, which is 600 meters away from the European Parliament Assembly, is leased by the EU until 2028.

This is the second investment in an office building in Brussels by Korea Investment & Securities. It has inked a deal to buy the Astro Tower in Brussels last year based on its analysis that Brussels has emerged as the most desirable place to invest since the British decision to leave the EU. The rent in the city rose to reach the level of major cities in Germany and France.

Korea Investment & Securities has been expanding its investments in overseas real estate in a move to seek new investment sources since last year. It increased real estate specialists and partnered up with foreign real estate firms.

By Kang Doo-soon and Song Gwang-sup

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