Mirae Asset-Amundi group may buy France skyscraper for almost $1 bn

A consortium of Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. Ltd. and French asset manager Amundi was picked as the preferred buyer for Tour Majunga, a landmark building in France, in a transaction worth around 1 trillion won ($960 million), according to Mirae Asset on March 3.

They beat a South Korean consortium of NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. and Hana Financial Investments Co. Ltd., for what is likely to be the most expensive acquisition of overseas property by a Korean firm.

“Instead of overstretching ourselves in price competition, we focused on winning the seller’s trust by bringing in Amundi Immobilier which has experience of over 40 years as a local partner and teaming up,” a Mirae Asset Daewoo source was quoted as saying in a statement.

Amundi Immobilier S.A. is a real estate investment arm of Amundi.

Both companies will put around 400 billion won into the acquisition as equity investors, and borrow the remainder from local lenders.

Tour Majunga, built in 2014, is the fourth tallest building in France and located in the business district of La Defense, west of Paris.

AXA Investment Managers and Deloitte occupy the 45-story building as long-term tenants.

Their remaining lease terms average nine and a half years.

Although high valuations cut expected returns from real estate investments, Mirae Asset expects the rental yield from Tour Majunga to reach between 7.5% and 8% per annum.

Meanwhile, Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. is close to sealing a 370 billion won deal for Tour Europe, an office complex in the La Defense district.

By Donghun Lee

leedh@hankyung.com

(Photo: Getty Images Bank)

(Updated on March 4 to slightly modify numbers in first and fifth paragraphs at the request of the source.)