Doughty Hanson Sells L'Oreal Italia HQ

MILAN, ITALY-The London-based private equity fund manager Doughty Hanson & Co. Real Estate has sold the 355,080-sf L’Oréal Italia headquarters building in Milan to one of the leading German open-end funds, WestInvest Gesellschaft fr Investmentfonds mbH, for more than $86 million.

Doughty Hanson acquired the derelict site in 2001 at a court-administered liquidation auction before bringing its minority partner BPD Property Development Srl of Treviso into the transaction and creating its Italian operating platform, Europa Risorse Srl, to manage the redevelopment project. The project was initiated in co-operation with L’Oréal as part of Doughty Hanson’s corporate solutions program.

The building is located on Via Primaticcio in Milan. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in mid-2003. Europa Risorse managed the project and completed the project ahead of schedule. Doughty Hanson & Co Real Estate was advised on the sale by Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker. WestInvest was advised by DLA Group.