London headquartered European real estate fund manager The Valesco Group has acquired the iconic Sequana Tower in Paris from European hotel group Accor for €460 million in a sale and leaseback transaction.
The iconic tower in Paris serves as the global headquarters of Accor SA, the largest hospitality group in Europe and sixth largest globally
The acquisition represents the largest office deal of the year in Continental Europe and the largest office deal in France since 2021.
The transaction is the first by Valesco’s new fully discretionary fund, which had a recent first close anchored by sovereign capital.
The 26-storey, 43,027 sqm tower, which was awarded the Eco Building Performance Grand Prize for its design, has strong ESG credentials, with a visitor and talent focussed experience at its centre. The generous amenities include a concierge service, a gym and spa, an auditorium, multiple cafeterias and breakout areas, an executive restaurant on the top floor as well as various terraces.
Sequana Tower is located in the Issy-les-Moulineaux commune, a prime micro-location in Paris and home to the headquarters of a number of multi-national companies including Nestle, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco and Capgemini.
The property is fully let to Accor (market cap c.€9 billion) on a 12-year term, without breaks and subject to annual indexation, and generates €22 million of contracted rent per annum.
Shiraz Jiwa, Founder and CEO of The Valesco Group, commented: “Sequana Tower represents the latest addition to our growing portfolio of mission critical, futureproof landmark assets. In Accor, with whom we have a very strong working relationship, we have added a global hospitality behemoth with a highly differentiated offering led by exceptional management, to our tenant roster. The collective market cap of our occupiers now exceeds €4 trillion. Our deep experience of executing during complex times against a backdrop of macro uncertainty, combined with our conviction on the real estate fundamentals underpinning this Parisian HQ Tower, has enabled us to close this year’s largest Continental European office deal and France’s largest since 2021.
“Mission critical offices have a vital role to play in the performance of corporates and in the development of talent. Their essence is to create an ecosystem and environment where talent can thrive and self-actualise whilst delivering for the collective – there must be a return on experience in any future proof office along with sustainability at its core. With Sequana being the first investment by our new discretionary fund, we continue our drive to deploy into further differentiated product in Paris and other European gateway cities.”
Foucault de La Rochere, Chief Efficiency Officer of Accor SA, added: “We are delighted to have completed this transaction with a best-in-class partner like Valesco. This sale reflects both our ability to execute strategic initiatives on behalf of shareholders and the quality of our signature. Accor is proud to occupy the iconic Sequana Tower and we are confident that we will continue to build on our very strong partnership with Valesco in the coming years.”
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