AEW has participated in the financing of office space in a fast-growing area of Paris, providing €50m of senior debt out of a total financing package of €152m.

The loan will be used to finance the construction of 30,000 sq m of office space in Saint Denis in the north of Paris, an area expected to substantially benefit from infrastructure development linked to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Sylvain Deschamps, debt fund manager at AEW, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, said: “In the post-Covid environment, investing in office space requires a highly selective choice of collateral. This property will meet the latest technical and environmental standards and has been fully pre-let to SNCF, in a part of Paris where it already has a strong footprint.”

SNCF is France’s state-owned national railway operator, and employs around 275,000 people in France and around the world. SNCF is an official partner of the Paris Olympics.

The lease to SNCF will last for nine years, starting from the building delivery date. “That secures nine years of cashflow for our loan, from a counterparty with a first-rate credit quality,” said Deschamps.

The senior loan, which was arranged by a German bank and with Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) as sponsor, is a seven-year bullet, meaning it is repayable in full at maturity. The loan to value (LTV) of the deal is 59%. The developer is Bouygues, a leading French and European construction company.

This deal allows us to increase our exposure to the French market,” said Deschamps. “The attractive features of this particular deal complemented by in-depth knowledge of this market make it an excellent transaction.”

Further Reading:
AEW SA
An affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers
Privately-held French "Société anonyme à conseil d’administration".
Real-estate investment manager under n°T 8324 delivered by the Prefecture de police de Paris.
Share capital: €17,025,900
RCS Paris: B 409 039 914
22 rue du Docteur Lancereaux 75008 Paris, France
www.aew.com

Natixis Investment Managers
RCS Paris 453 952 681
Share Capital: €178 251 690
43 avenue Pierre Mendès France
75013 Paris
www.im.natixis.com

This communication is for information only and is intended for investment service providers or other Professional Clients. The analyses and opinions referenced herein represent the subjective views of the author as referenced unless stated otherwise and are subject to change. There can be no guarantee that developments will transpire as may be forecasted in this material.

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