French institutional investors Caisse des Dépôts, Crédit Agricole´s Predica and Société Commerciale de Réassurance (Scor) have joined forces to acquire the 64,300-m2 River Ouest office complex in Bezons, a north-western suburb of Paris.

The acquisition was led by ING Real Estate Investment Management France which gathered the three French institutions in a club deal. The operation was made through a newly-created OPCI vehicle managed by Unibiens, a 100% owned fund management subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Immobilier. Financial details were not disclosed.

In a statement, the buyers said they are financing the deal with debt provided by lenders Crédit Agricole CIB and Helaba (lead arrangers) and Westimmo (arranger).

Located in the new Bords de Seine district of Bezons, River Ouest was developed by HRO and consists of four buildings offering 1,450 parking spaces and boasts a triple environmental certification: HQE Construction, HQE ‘In-occupation’ and THPE (very high energy efficiency). The scheme was delivered in July 2009 and is fully leased to a number of tenants including Atos Origin, a leading international IT services provider which uses it as its world headquarters with a 12-year firm lease contract.

´Our ability to put together such a deal has reinforced our relationships with existing and new institutional clients,´said ING REIM France´s Chief Executive Silvio Estienne and Chief Investment Officer Bruno Cohen. ´The River Ouest acquisition is an attractive deal for the investors and a major step for ING REIM as part of its strategy to continue to develop the direct investment business, in particular with club deal and joint venture initiatives, and in addition to its fund management activities and separate account mandates.´