Samsung Life buys Frankfurt's 'Silberturm' for €450m

The landmark Silberturm ("Silver Tower") building in Frankfurt's Hauptbahnhof quarter has been bought by Samsung SRA Asset Management, a division of the Korean Samsung Life Insurance for a price of more than €450m. The seller is a consortium of eight institutional investors led by IVG Institutional Funds.

A report in the trade newspaper Immobilien Zeitung said the sale of the 166m-high tower went ahead last week after the Koreans offered the highest price in a competitive bidding process. The 36-storey, 78,000 sqm asset was built in 1975-1978 and remained the tallest building in Germany until 1990 when it was the headquarters of the Dresdner Bank, which subsequently merged with Commerzbank.

The property was thoroughly refurbished for €110m between 2009 and 2011, when its new (and current) tenant German railway Deutsche Bahn moved in, and which still has a 12-year remaining lease term. The tower was held by eight institutional investors led by IVG Institutional Funds, which bought it for around €400m in 2011 from Commerzbank. Bavarian public pension fund BVK provided €190m debt, but the fund's financing will now to be taken over by Dutch ING Real Estate, which won a competitive bid for it, according to Immobilien Zeitung.