No details were provided but NPS, the world's fifth biggest pension fund, said in April it expected to close the sale in May and gave a price of $714 million. Located at Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin, the asset offers 1.2-million-square-feet of space. Initially built as the European headquarters of Japan's Sony Corp, the property is also occupied by Deutsche Bahn, and Sanofi-Aventis.

Following the deal, foreign real estate should account for 1.3% of its $239 billion equivalent in assets, NPS said. The pension service is also said to be interested in Frankfurt's Opera Tower, completed last year and more than 50% let to Swiss bank UBS. Developer Tishman Speyer is seeking a price of up to $742 million.

NPS first entered European real estate with a commitment to London investment manager Rockspring for City real estate. It was marked by the giant $1.1 billion purchase late last year of HSBC's European HQ in Canary Wharf.