BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The "Galileo" skyscraper in Frankfurt was sold to the real estate investment company CapitaLand for 356 million euros (419.6 million U.S. dollars), the Singapore-based investor told reporters on Thursday.
The 38-story office tower located in Frankfurt's financial district currently hosts the headquarters of Commerzbank, Germany's fourth largest bank, and is considered to be amongst prestigious properties on the city's real estate mark.
CapitaLand is majority-owned by Temasek Holdings, the national sovereign wealth fund of Singapore which in 2017 boasted an international portfolio of assets worth 173 billion euros in total.
Commerzbank first sold the 136-meter-high tower to the Korean IVG group for 250 million euros five years ago. A spokesperson for the previous owners emphasized on Thursday that a "significant increase in value" had hence been achieved for the property, not least thanks to the United Kingdom's decision to Brexit and a resulting rise in demand for Frankfurt office space.
Commerzbank has a lease on the floors currently occupied by its headquarters until 2029 but also retains the option to cancel its rental agreement pre-maturely from 2024 onwards.
For reasons of tax efficiency, another Temasek holding, CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT), will technically own 94.4 percent of the "Galileo" tower while 5.1 percent are controlled by CapitaLand Ltd.
It is not the first acquisition for the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund in the German financial hub. CapitaLand already owns the Main Airport Center (MAC) at Frankfurt's international airport.
