NEW YORK - June 26, 2000 - In a major relocation and expansion of its investment banking operation's North American headquarters within New York City, U.K.-based financial service giant Barclays Bank PLC has leased 260,000 sq. ft. in the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue. The transaction marks this year's third largest lease signed to date in Midtown Manhattan.
Barclays will occupy several floors in the lower portion of the highly viiable 2.8 million-sq.-ft. tower that rises above Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The long-term lease, which provides options for future expansion within the building, was arranged for Barclays by Insignia/ESG's Stuart Eisenkraft, Jason Gorman, Lewis Miller and John Powers. Building owner Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) was represented by the Shorenstein Company's Keith J. Caggiano and John D. Zuckerman.
In addition to its North American banking headquarters and its private banking arm, Barclays will house the offices of its investment banking division, Barclays Capital (including a 400-person trading operation) within the space. Barclays will move from the 200,000 sq. ft. it currently occupies at 222 Broadway in Downtown Manhattan beginning in mid-2002. The company currently house 1,100 employees at its existing location, and anticipated growth of this work force has been factored into its decision to take more space in the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue. Barclays Global Investors, a separate unit of Barclays in the U.S., will remain headquartered in San Francisco.
"We are extremely pleased to be associated with a company as prestigious and well respected as MetLife and are happy to have secured long-term space I a building with auch a high-profile image and identity," said Thomas L. Kalaris, Chief Executive, Barclays Capital, Americas. "This prime Midtown location was attractive not only for its ease of access for our clients and our employees, but because we were able to secure the 100,000-sq.-ft. floor plates that are necessary for our trading operations. We are in an environment where first-rate trading floor technology is a prerequisite for success. The move to the MetLife Building gives us the room we need to achieve our ambitious growth targets in the U.S. market."
"We are pleased to welcome Barclays and their North American headquarters to the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue. The 100,000-square-foot base floors of the building easily accommodated their need for extensive space," explained Mark Keeney, Assistant Vice President of MetLife Read Estate Investments. "With this move Barclays will have a well-known address and will join the respected and prominent industry leaders that call the MetLife Building home. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with them."
"It is extremely difficult under current market conditions to find a large block of contiguous space in Midtown Manhattan, particularly of this caliber and with the requisite floor sizes to accommodate high-tech trading operations," said Insignia/ESG's Lewis Miller. "We were able to find the perfect fit to accommodate Barclays local real estate needs now and will into the future."
"MetLife should commended for moving quickly and adeptly to consummate this important transaction with a significant new tenant," said Jon Zuckerman, regional Leasing director, Shorenstein Realty Services. "The space will be upgraded to provide Barclays with a number of above-standard amenities, such as a redundant power supply, a dedicated cooling system, telecommunications services and adequate riser space to support trading operations."
Barclays PLC is one of the Europe's leading financial services organizations with assets of $413 billion (Dec 31, 1999) and pre-tax profits in 1999 of $4 billion. It is firmly established as the leader e-enabled bank in the U.K., with innovative e-commerce initiatives being developed across its five business divisions: Retail Financial Services, Corporate Banking, Barclaycard, Barclays Global Investors and Barclays Capital.
Barclays Capital is the banking division of the Barclays Group and provides financial products and solutions to major corporations, investors and governments. It has developed e-commerce applications in a number of areas, including commercial paper, convertible bonds, financial futures and equify finance as well as foreign exchange. In common with Charles Schwab, it was a co-lead manager on the World Bank's first e-bond in January 2000, and lead-managed the first e-bond for the Europen Investment Bank in February. For information about Barclays Capital, please visit the company's Web site at www.barcap.com
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to individual and group customers. The MetLife companies serve approximately nine million individual households in the U.S. and companies and institutions with 33 million employees and members. MetLife also has international insurance operations in 11 countries. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company's Web site at www.metlife.com.
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