Korea Investment & Securities Co. is seeking to buy International Business Campus (IBC) building complex located in Frankfurt, Germany in cooperation with domestic institutional investors, following its purchase of a new headquarters building of Novartis in Paris, France last June for 480 billion won. IBC is estimated to be valued at 500 billion won ($440 million).

According to sources on Monday, the Korean stock brokerage house has selected IBC as its next target for property investment in Europe together with Korean pension funds and mutual aid associations.

Talks are underway with GEG (German Estate Group), a local asset manager for the deal and the entire purchasing process is expected to be completed within the year. The deal will cost about 500 billion won, of which about 200 billion won will be financed by Korean institutional investors and the remaining will be leveraged from bank loans in Germany.

The landmark office building complex established in 2003 has 84,200 square meters of space and is adjacent to the Frankfurt exhibition, a popular venue for motor shows and other events. The building complex consists of three buildings, with TowerⅠ(112 m) standing at 30 floors and Tower Ⅱ and Ⅲ at 10 floors each. Germany’s leading financial institutions including Deutsche Bank and Degussa are among the building’s long-term tenants whose contracts span over 10 years.

“Investment demand for real estate assets is shifting fast to Germany from Britain after the Brexit vote. Frankfurt is a favorite city among global property investors as demand for office spaces are expected to continue as the city is growing faster than other major municipalities in Germany with relatively low unemployment rate,” a market expert said.

In August, Samsung’s financial units bought out Commerzbank Tower, the tallest building in Frankfurt and the second tallest one in Europe, for about 900 billion won.

By Kang Doo-soon and Song Gwang-sup

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