Oxford debuts in Continental Europe

The real estate arm of OMERS has acquired an office property in Paris from The Carlyle Group for €263 million

Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), has made its first acquisition in Continental Europe.

The €21 billion real estate group made its debut by buying 32 Rue Blanche, a 237,500-square-foot office building in central Paris, from The Carlyle Group for around €263 million. The prime Grade A property was extensively redeveloped by Carlyle in 2012.

“The acquisition represents an attractive entry point for Oxford into the Paris office market, which demonstrates compelling long-term fundamentals and is in line with Oxford’s stated overall European strategy,” the investor noted in a statement. Hines in France was advisor to Oxford on the deal and will serve as asset manager.

“After delivering on our stated intention to establish a high-quality commercial real estate portfolio in the UK, which currently stands at more than €3 billion, 32 Rue Blanche represents an excellent opportunity to establish a portfolio in Continental Europe, which demonstrates the same compelling attributes,” said Michel Vauclair, Oxford executive.

“We have a clear ambition to grow our assets under management in Paris to more than €1 billion over the next three to five years and will invest in assets where we believe that current values do not reflect future market improvements.”