CB Richard Ellis / NAI OTTO mandated with sale: "a huge success"

Vienna, 06 Dec. 2007. One of the most coveted Austrian real estate portfolio has changed the owner: at the end of last week Austrian real estate investor Rene Benko ("Signa Holding") signed the purchase contract for the real estate package of the former union bank BAWAG PSK, which had been in full possession of the US fund Cerberus since May. The portfolio comprising 16 prime properties in top locations in Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck comprises usable space of approx. 140,000 square metres.

The sales process, attended by CB Richard Ellis together with NAI OTTO Immobilien, was completed in only a few months. The purchase price has not been disclosed, but according to BAWAG, who will invest the proceeds of the sale in future development of the company, the deal was "fair for both sides" and appropriate to market conditions. A second package of bank-owned properties is intended for sale in early 2008. Andreas Ridder, managing director of CB Richard Ellis, views the deal, which received considerable attention in the media, as "a huge success" for which his entire investment team of his company enjoyed working hard for.

Outbidding other interested parties such as the Bayrische Landesbank and Lone Star, the private equity fund Cerberus had acquired the former workers' bank for a purchase price of Euro 3.2bn at the end of 2006.

press contact in Austria:
themata | kommunikation, Mag. Gertraud Auinger-Oberzaucher, Tel. 02252 / 206991-0, E Mail: office@themata.at