Prudential Financial's property investment arm, TMW Pramerica, has sold an office building located in Pfäffikon near Zurich for around CHF 59 mln (EUR 40 mln). The buyer is the French investor Axa Investment Management. The property was held by TMW Immobilien Weltfonds vehicle.

'The transaction follows the start last spring of our sale programme and it shows the quality of the real estate held in the TMW Immobilien Weltfonds vehicle,' said Sebastian
Lohmer, head of portfolio management.

Altogether the fund has divested EUR 152 mln worth of property over the past few months. The sales are aimed at increasing the liquidity of the vehicle, which re-opened for trading in December last year.

Additionally, the company said that it has acquired an office and retail property in London's Mayfair district for one of its special funds. The transaction price amounts to EUR 42 mln. The acquisition was financed by German bank BayernLB. The building, with 2,572 m2 of space, is located near Grosvenor Square in London and was completely renovated in 2008, keeping its historical façade intact. It is 100% leased with long-term rental contracts to six firms.

In a separate statement, TMW Pramerica said that it invested a total of EUR 325 mln in real estate last year. The company bought properties in the cities of Milan, Lille, Cologne, London, Paris and Seoul. Looking ahead, TMW Pramerica plans to set up a number of new funds this year targeting commercial real estate.

TMW Pramerica invests in real estate mainly for institutional clients and has a total real estate portfolio of nearly EUR 32 bn, invested across 19 countries worldwide.