Chinese sovereign fund, using Invesco as middleman, buys 1221 Sixth stake

CIC's 45% interest in Midtown office tower valued at $1B

From left: CIC's Ding-Xuedong, 1221 Sixth Avenue (credit: Cushman and Wakefield) and CPP's Mark Machin
From left: CIC's Ding-Xuedong, 1221 Sixth Avenue (credit: Cushman and Wakefield) and CPP's Mark Machin

China Investment Corporation bought a 45 percent stake in the former McGraw-Hill Building at 1221 Sixth Avenue, sources familiar with the transaction told The Real Deal. CIC, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, bought the stake through Invesco, sources said, in a deal valued at $1.03 billion.

In November, Colliers mentioned the deal in its third-quarter report, crediting Invesco as the buyer. CPP announced the deal closing late last week, identifying the buyer only as a “global institutional investor.” But multiple sources involved in the process revealed to TRD that CIC is the true buyer, with Invesco purchasing the stake on its behalf. The stake sale values the 50-story, 2.6 million-square-foot tower at about $2.29 billion.

The purchase, brokered by Eastdil Secured, is the seventh largest investment sale of the year, taking into account both partial and full stakes. Rockefeller Group will continue to manage the tower and retain its 55 percent interest.

Invesco was among the firms eyeing the stake back when CPP began shopping it around in April, as TRD reported at the time.

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CPP had purchased the stake in 2010 from SL Green Realty for $576 million, valuing the property at $1.28 billion at the time.

The tower is home to tenants such as law firm White & Case, Morgan Stanley and Comcast. Asking rents are in the mid-$80s per square foot.

In May, CIC bought a 49 percent stake in Brookfield Property Partners’ 50-story office tower 1 New York Plaza for $683.5 million. In July, Reuters reported that CIC had $814 billion of assets under management.

Eastdil declined to comment, while representatives for CPP and CIC could not be immediately reached.