Commerzbank's London HQ Is Said to Be for Sale for $570 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Life Insurance Co. has put Commerzbank AG’s City of London headquarters up for sale for about 425 million pounds ($570 million), according to two people with knowledge of the matter and a document seen by Bloomberg.

The South Korean investment manager is being advised by DWS Group GmbH in the sale of the 30 Gresham Street building, close to the Bank of England, the document shows. Investec Plc is the other major tenant in the roughly 400,000-square-foot (37,160-square-meter) property, which is about the size of six soccer fields, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

CoStar News reported details of the sale earlier.

Demand for large City of London offices with long leases has remained strong even after the U.K. opted to leave the European Union as overseas investors capitalize on the weakness of the pound. Prices for the best buildings fell in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and recovered about six months later as international buyers competed to acquire the most attractive properties.

A spokesman for DWS, the asset management firm controlled by Deutsche Bank AG, declined to comment. The investment manager has appointed brokers CBRE Group Inc. and Knight Frank LLP to help it with the sale. Samsung Life could not be contacted for comment outside normal working hours.

Samsung Life has been “encouraged” to sell by the continued demand for office space in the capital, according to the sales document. Current rents in the building are well below those for new space in London’s main financial district, giving a new owner the chance to increase their income, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net

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

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