UAE's Gulf Islamic Investments buys Altaïs Towers in $300m deal

The transaction puts GII on track to grow total assets under management to $3bn by year-end

Altais Towers Street View. Gulf Islamic Investments acquired Altaïs Towers in east Paris for $300 million. Courtesy GII.

Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) acquired an office tower in Paris for $300 million, the firm's biggest property deal to date, as it seeks to expand its real estate investments across Europe.

The transaction puts the UAE-based financial services firm on track to grow total assets under management to $3 billion by the end of 2021 from nearly $2bn currently, GII said.

"Altaïs Towers is an exciting marker in GII’s growth trajectory," Mohammed Alhassan, founding partner and co-chief executive of GII, said. "This acquisition highlights our deep and diversified global experience as we expand into new geographies and execute transactions of this scale and complexity, especially amidst the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

GII deploys private capital across a range of sectors including real estate, private equity and venture capital. Its clients include ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, banks, institutions and sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf and Asia.

Altaïs Towers, a fully restructured commercial property, was sold by a consortium including Arpent Capital, Maple Knoll Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.

The deal marks GII’s first acquisition in Paris and its largest real estate acquisition so far, bringing the value of its total investments in Europe to nearly $800m.

The acquisition is "consistent with our long-term real estate investment strategy of acquiring high-quality assets in major cities," Pankaj Gupta, founding partner and co-CEO of GII, said.

Located in the eastern Parisian suburb of Montreuil, Altaïs Towers comprises two buildings, totalling 37,500 square metres in lettable area. Altaïs Towers is currently 99 per cent leased on an average lease term of 12 years. GII has appointed L'Etoile Properties as local property manager.

GII said it is rapidly diversifying across asset classes and geographies. The firm is finalising its second India-focused investment portfolio, which will start in the second quarter of 2021. The portfolio will include investment opportunities across various sectors, with a projected value of more than $50m.

GII also expects to conclude a property transaction this year in the senior care segment in Germany, making inroads in the country’s growing elderly care market estimated to be worth approximately $80bn by 2025, it said.