Italian fund manager Sorgente is leading a consortium of Italian investors that has presented a EUR 480 mln offer to buy the historic Rinascente building at Milan's Piazza Duomo. The property is owned by the Retail & Entertainment fund, which is managed by Prelios (formerly Pirelli Real Estate) and is owned by Prelios, Investitori Associati, Deutsche Bank's RREEF and the Borletti family.

Sorgente is interested in taking over the management of the department store in addition to buying the real estate asset, Sorgente's Chief Executive Valter Mainetti told Italian daily Il Messaggero in an interview.

The company is the latest in a string of investors which has expressed interest in acquiring the trophy asset, including sovereign wealth funds from Libia and Abu Dhabi and the Ippocrate investment vehicle, which is managed by First Atlantic Real Estate.

The owners of the Rinascente building, Investitori Associati (46%), Deutsche Bank (30%), Prelios (20%) and Borletti (4%) bought it in 2005 from Ifil, the investment vehicle of Italy's Agnelli family. The asset generates around EUR 22 mln in annual rents.

The group is also reportedly seeking to sell La Rinascente building in Rome, which is valued at around EUR 250 mln.