Deutsche Bank Said to Seek New Post-Brexit Frankfurt Office

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG is scouting Frankfurt for office space that could hold as many as 1,600 workers as it plans for life after Brexit, two people with knowledge of the search said.

The bank is seeking 15,000 square meters (161,000 square feet) to 20,000 square meters of office space that it could occupy within about two years, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plan is private. That’s enough space for about 1,200 to 1,600 people, based on modern office property standards.

No final decisions on the size or location of the new office have been taken and a formal search is expected to start in a few weeks, the people said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank, whose current headquarters is one of the city’s landmarks, declined to comment.

Frankfurt has emerged as the most popular choice among banks looking to expand their footprint inside the European Union after the Brexit vote. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley have already signed deals to expand in the city and as many as 10,000 financial services jobs could be created, lobby group Frankfurt Main Finance said in an emailed statement Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank expects to move about 4,000 positions to Frankfurt and Berlin due to Brexit, people briefed on the matter said in August. That equates to about half of its current U.K. workforce, though no plans have been finalized and the numbers could still change depending on the outcome of talks between the U.K. and EU.

Deutsche Bank may consider options including the Marienturm development, which is close to its existing Frankfurt headquarters, where Goldman Sachs signed a lease for about 10,000 square meters of office space last month, one of the people said. Other possibilities include the Omniturm tower, where Morgan Stanley has agreed to lease space, another person said.

Demand and rents for the best office space have reached a record, driven by a healthy German economy and additional demand for office space from banks that have decided to relocate jobs to Frankfurt in preparation for Brexit, according to the Frankfurt Main Finance statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net, Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at ncallanan@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman

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