(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP is seeking to sell two office buildings in Paris for a total of about 350 million euros ($410 million) as it taps increased investor demand for space in the city in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The properties for sale are known as Coeur Marais and Fhive, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. They are located on the Rue des Archives and the Rue Charlot respectively, and the tenants include WeWork Cos. A Blackstone spokesman declined to comment.
Financial-services companies are increasingly looking at boosting their presence in the French capital and other European cities ahead of the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. Brexit will probably put an end to passporting, the legal principal that allows banks to service the rest of the bloc from their London hubs.
Bank of America Corp. is in talks to secure 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters) in Paris's 8th arrondissement -- home to the Arc de Triomphe -- to relocate part of its trading operations from London.
Blackstone acquired the two Paris buildings in 2015 as part of a wider agreement to buy properties from General Electric Co.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net, Sharon Smyth in London at ssmyth2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at ncallanan@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman, Ross Larsen
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