South Korea’s Samsung Securities Co. and Korea Investment & Securities Co. joined the race to acquire Germany’s Commerzbank Tower located in Frankfurt, the tallest building in Europe that is priced at around 900 billion won ($808 million). It would be vying against Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd. for the property.

According to the investment banking industry on Tuesday, Commerz Real AG arranging the deal held a separate meeting with Samsung Securities and Korean Investment & Securities in Seoul late last month to discuss sales price and fund raising method. Commerz Real plans to pick a preferred bidder in the middle of this month after fine-tuning sale terms with the candidates.

A source close to the deal said that Commerzbank, the seller of the building, is weighing out the sale terms with prudence because the deal carries such a big price tag.

Samsung Securities will finance the takeover through Samsung SRA Asset Management Co.’s real estate fund worth 500 billion won that it formed last year with Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. The fund acquired the So Ouest office tower in northwestern Paris early this year.

Korea Investment & Securities plans to establish a consortium with major institutional investors such as Millennium Asset Management to raise fund for the acquisition. As part of an effort to bolster its alternative investment to seek better returns, it has purchased Novartis AG’s office building in Paris, France in June and Astro Tower in Brussels, Belgium in February this year.

Commerzban Tower, a 56-story and 259-meter skyscraper located in the center of Frankfurt, is a headquarter building of the Germany’s second largest bank Commerz Bank.

By Kang Doo-soon and Song Gwang-sup

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