Paris Real Estate Market Shows Strong Figures

Figures for the third quarter of 2007 showed an 8.7% increase in Paris real estate prices in one year, with the average price of old and unoccupied apartments reaching €6,181/ USD 9,134.58 per square meter. This amounts to an increase of 75.5% in the last five years. These latest figures were revealed by the Paris Notary Chamber last week.

ING Real Estate acquires French developer Geo-de

ING Real Estate said the acquisition will enable it to expand its activities in France, and it is anticipated to deliver an increasing market share.

Geo-de has a project pipeline totalling some 100,000 square metres, and plans to mainly develop mixed-use inner-city projects.

Eiffage sells real estate portfolio to Fonciere des Regions for 102 mln eur

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Fonciere des Regions said it bought a 190,000 square metre real estate portfolio from Eiffage for 102 mln eur.

The properties, mostly rented to Eiffage businesses, generate 8.7 mln eur in annual rent, the group said in a statement.

Accor Sales Rise 6.8% on European Hotels

ccor SA, Europe's biggest hotel owner, said full-year sales increased 6.8 percent as more travelers stayed at its properties in the region and the company fueled growth at the service-voucher unit with acquisitions.

Revenue in fiscal 2007 climbed to 8.12 billion euros ($12 billion) from 7.61 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based company said today. That beat the 8.08 billion-euro median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

3-Colony takes over Paris St-Germain soccer club

Property investment company Colony Capital has become the top shareholder in soccer club Paris Saint-Germain, the former French champions who have fallen on hard times but still have attractive real estate assets.

On Friday, Colony Capital said it would acquire a roughly 30 percent stake in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from private equity firm Butler Capital.

Following the deal, Colony Capital will hold around 62.5 percent of PSG's capital. Butler Capital will hold around 5 percent of the soccer club. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the transaction.

Club Med Reports Annual Loss on Real-Estate Delays

Club Mediterranee SA, Europe's largest resort operator, reported an annual loss after postponing property transactions because of a slowdown in the real-estate market.

The loss was 8 million euros ($11.8 million) in the year through October, compared with a 5 million-euro profit in the prior period after property sales, the Paris-based company said today. That missed the 3.3 million-euro median profit estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Cie des Alpes in talks on theme park real estate

PARIS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - French ski resort and theme park operator Cie des Alpes (CDAF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it was in talks to sell real estate near its theme parks to shopping center or holiday home developers.

Chairman Jean-Pierre Sonois told a news conference the group was looking at selling off land in order to drive traffic at its theme parks, which include the Asterix park, north of Paris, and Walibi parks in Belgium, France and Holland.