NH, Shinhan fund Helsinki office complex purchase with $210 mn equity

NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. and Shinhan Investment Corp. have underwritten about 250 billion won ($210 million) in equity to fund the 480 million-euro ($531 million) acquisition of Finland’s largest office complex.

For the first Finnish office purchase by South Korean investors, the two brokerage companies formed a consortium with Finland’s Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co.

The South Korean-Finnish consortium completed the Vallila property acquisition, the headquarter office of OP Financial Group, Finland’s largest financial services group, in a sale and leaseback transaction in January. They were named the preferred buyer last July.

Joining force with the Finnish company seemed to give them a competitive advantage over 14 other bidders from Europe and the US, according to a financial industry source on Feb. 3.

Varma Mutual has provided an unspecified amount as an equity investor, and the remainder of the cost was borrowed from local financial institutions.

The expected yield from the 74,150 square-meter campus acquisition was not immediately disclosed.

OP Financial will continue to use the complex encompassing seven connected buildings in Helsinki under a long-term lease agreement, according to its press release on Jan. 31.

Seoul-based AIP Asset Management Co. Ltd. and Helsinki-based Avant Asset Management acted as co-investment managers for the deal.

Completed in 2017, the office complex accommodates approximately 6,000 people.

By Hyun-il Lee

hiuneal@hankyung.com