FRANKFURT-The sale of Frankfurt’s Opera Tower, considered by many as one of the premier, new office assets in the European market, is likely to be finalized in the next few weeks, and US investment bank JP Morgan is leading the bidding, according to industry sources.

The 673,000-square-foot office tower, opened in 2008, is owned by developer Tishman Speyer and a fund owned and managed by Swiss banking group UBS, which is the anchor tenant. Tishman has wanted to sell since before the economic crisis but one buyer, Munich-based fund manager KanAm, pulled out as financial uncertainty deepened. It had been reported offering around $585 million. The tower, with 42 floors, commands top-prime rents reaching almost to $65 per square meter prior to the crisis.

The amount of the current bid is not known but one source, who asked not to be named, said it was doubly surprising not only for the identity of bidders but also its aggressiveness. “This is a very encouraging sign because if you had asked the market about potential buyers six months ago neither the number one nor number two would have been on the list,” one knowledgeable source said. “There was a number one and a number two, and number one is in exclusivity - but number two was not the Koreans either… JP Morgan came out of the blue… Everyone, including Tishman, was very surprised about the aggressive bid coming from them.” It is not known if the bank is bidding for its own account or on behalf of a third party.