As of December 31, 2022, Credit Suisse and UBS had on their balance sheet real estate loans worth approximately €187 billion, of which approximately €23 billion related to commercial real estate lending.
The joint company is now required to manage a real estate portfolio worth more than €93 billion, while Credit Suisse Asset Management alone manages approximately 1,250 properties in 13 countries worth more than €44 billion.
The takeover inevitably raises questions about the future of tens of thousands of employees as well as where the combined company will be based. At the end of 2022, Credit Suisse had approximately €334 million in lease costs and had entered into 12 sale and leaseback transactions with terms ranging from 5 to 10 years.
In London, Credit Suisse employs approximately 5,000 staff at its headquarters in Canary Wharf. The Qatar Investment Authority bought the 54,000 sq m offices for £330m in 2012, at a yield of 5.4%, with the bank leasing the property until 2034. The bank was already in the process of subletting 19,000 sq m of it after the redesign of workplaces that followed the post-pandemic era.
UBS has approximately 6,200 employees in the UK, with many based in its premises in the City of London. Its head office is at 5 Broadgate next to Liverpool Street station. Late last year it sublet two floors totaling 10,000 sq m to Grant Thornton, keeping the remaining 72,000 sq m building under a lease that expires in 2035.
The building is owned by the National Pension Fund of Korea which bought the headquarters for more than £1.2bn early last year in the biggest asset sale in the UK.
Credit Suisse has more than 150 offices in 50 countries. UBS operates in more than 50 countries worldwide, with nearly 60,000 employees.
