Hanwha Investment steps in with $54 mn to keep Europe building deal afloat

Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. has decided to commit 60 billion won ($54 million) to a South Korean consortium which was named as a preferred buyer of a prime office building in Brussels for a transaction worth €210 million ($226 million).

The South Korean brokerage firm will take the place of Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. which withdrew from the consortium formed with Hana Asset Management Co. Ltd., according to investment banking sources on March 17.

A Korea Investment source said his company was supposed to pull out of the deal after the consortium won the preferred negotiation rights, without elaborating further.  

Last November the consortium was picked as a preferred negotiator for Square de Meeus 8, a 11-story office building, located in Leopold district. The property is owned by KanAm Grund, a Frankfurt-based real estate investment firm.

The office complex, not far from the European Parliament’s headquarters, has been entirely occupied by the Parliament’s subcommittees since 1978. The Parliament will continue to lease the 39,710 square-meter building through 2028 under a long-term contract.

Hana Asset plans to raise €92 million from Hanwha Investment and a couple of other securities firms through a real estate fund to acquire an equity interest in the property. It will borrow the rest of the acquisition price from financial institutions, aiming to close the deal by the end of this month.

The transaction is Hanwha’s first investment in overseas real estate in two years, since it participated in a $1 billion property fund raised in 2015 to acquire overseas real estate assets in a package deal from KanAm Grund.

By Daehun Kim

daepun@hankyung.com