Hsbc to sell up in paris?

HSBC, Europe's largest bank, is in exclusive talks with an unidentified property fund to sell its Paris headquarters...

The bank said today it was discussing the sale of 103 avenue des Champs-Elysees and neighboring 15 Rue Vernet to a subsidiary of a French OPCI (Organisme de Placement Collectif Immobilier). It plans to lease back the buildings, a quarter of a mile away from the Arc de Triomphe, for an initial nine years.

HSBC has already agreed the sale and leaseback of its main buildings in London and New York in the past six weeks, raising gross proceeds of about $1.63bn. Last week it sold its Canary Wharf tower to South Korea's National Pension Service for £772.5m and last month Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner's IDB Group and Joseph Cayre's Midtown Equities agreed to purchase the bank's New York base for $330m.

Source: www.propertyweek.com