Credit Suisse’s landmark building Uetlihof is about to change owners again. Its price tag could narrow the pool of potential buyers, as finews.com reveals.
The Norwegian State Pension fund run by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the owners of Uetlihof, where Credit Suisse’s main campus in Zurich is located, is planning to sell the building complex, according to finews.com's research.
Commercial real estate companies SPGI and CBRE have both been tasked with the sale of the properties, which is likely to be conducted in an auction.
The fund is asking for 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.4 billion) for the building suite, which is 30 percent more than they paid when they bought it from Credit Suisse almost ten years ago.
Due to the high price, a likely buyer would either be a state fund or a consortium of state funds. While insurers could come up with the sum, it might be too much of a risk for them to allocate so much capital into a single project. Other real estate funds or pension funds are not cash-heavy enough to make such an acquisition, people familiar said.
Leased Until 2037
In 2012 Credit Suisse decided to sell its main campus to the Norwegian state fund to bolster its capital. Since then it has had a lease contract on the buildings, which runs until 2037.
CBRE, SPGI and the bank declined to comment on a possible sale of Uetlihof when asked by finews.com. Separately, a spokeswoman for NBIM said the company does not comment on speculation.
Billionaire CEO
Buoyed by the strong stock market in 2021, the sovereign wealth fund performed well last year. Assets under management climbed to 12.340 billion Norwegian kroner (around 1.27 trillion Swiss francs), also in part thanks to its fund performance of 14.5 percent. However, NBIM real estate investments returned 2.5 percent, suggesting some traction.
Hedge fund billionaire Nicolai Tangen took the reins at the fund as CEO last fall.
Additional reporting by Jade Cano, Claude Baumann, Samuel Gerber
