Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is selling a landmark property in Zurich occupied by Credit Suisse. A surprising third party wants to bid for it.
The city of Zurich announced at a press conference on Thursday it wants to buy the Uetlihof property, as «NZZ» reported (in German, behind paywall), quoting Zurich City President Corine Mauch as saying: «such opportunities do not come along every day.»
The Uetlihof office complex in Zurich, currently owned by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which is the investment arm of Norway's sovereign wealth fund and is up for sale, as finews.com reported in February.
NBIM, which purchased the property ten years ago, wants to sell and commissioned the Swiss branch of real-estate specialists CBRE to handle the bidding process, along with SPGI Zurich. The Norwegian firm's asking price is said to be 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.32 billion), which is a 30 percent gain from the 1 billion francs it paid.
While the city's final bid amount will stay under wraps, the council is seeking approval for a 1.2 billion franc credit from the municipal authorities, the report said.
Future Building Site
Should the city of Zurich win the bid, nothing would change for the more than 8,000 Credit Suisse employees who work at the Uetlihof campus. The bank has a lease running until 2037 with an option to extend it for a further 15 years. According to the «NZZ» report, the city council views the property over the long term as a land reserve for future construction projects.
