The 38-story property is the largest office building in Vienna at some 678,000 square feet of floor space and is fully leased to firms including OMV, Borealis, Ernst & Young and Oracle. Stephen Miles, Director EMEA Capital Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, which advised Matrix, said the deal is one of the largest single asset office transactions in Europe in recent months and, "demonstrates that there is investor strength and depth for good quality assets, despite macroeconomic conditions that remain challenging across many markets."

The sale of IZD Tower, located adjacent to the United Nations building in the Donaustadt region of Vienna, releases $80.5 million of cash, of which $43.7 million will be used for liabilities. Following this procedure, total outstanding debt amounts to $329 million, giving an LTV based on the December portfolio valuation of 64.6%. Matrix said its portfolio, post-transaction, is valued at $500 million.

This sale is the latest stage in a package of measures Matrix has been undertaking over the past two years in order to de-gear and stabilise its portfolio, and follows sales in the German city of Mnster and French town of Montpellier. "This places the company in a strong position to look to the future growth .. and the board is considering the application of surplus IZD proceeds for additional de-gearing, reinvestment and other uses," Matrix said.