BayernLB (Bayerische Landesbank) completed the sale of Bavaria House to Appold Broadgate Owners S.à r.l..
BayernLB has owned and occupied Bavaria House since its purchase in 1989. Due to the increasing age and obsolescence of the building, the Bank decided earlier this year to search for new offices for the Branch and to look at various options for the old building. Knight Frank were appointed to advise on the sale whilst Shepherd and Wedderburn acted as legal advisors to the Bank.
The marketing of the building was launched in June 2014 and attracted a wide range of interest from developers considering office, hotel and residential redevelopment. After a large number of viewings and over ten bids in the first round, the eventual winning bidder, an affili-ate of property owner with other holdings in London, was chosen as the preferred bidder.
The parties have agreed to not disclose details of the transaction.
Johannes Heinloth, CEO of BayernLB in London, commented:
“Having worked on this project for almost a year we are very pleased to have completed the sale of our building successfully and we look forward to occupying our new office space in May 2015”
The new premises of BayernLB London Branch will be in Moorhouse at Moorgate. The Moorhouse offers state of the art office space that meet the requirements of BayernLB regarding client orientation, col-laboration, health and environmental acceptability. This supports the BayernLB London Branch central role within BayernLB Group as a co-centre of competence for real estate finance, structured finance, corporate banking and markets. As a bank with the focus on German clients, target customers are – in addition to the subsidiaries of the German clients – International and UK institutions with an exposure to the German economy.
Markus Wiegelmann, CFO/COO of BayernLB, being responsible for the branches in London and New York added: “The move into the new premises is a key part in the restructuring of our activities in London to a very focussed and client-oriented lean branch model.”