- The office building at 110-112 route d’Arlon in Luxembourg City has changed hands. A subsidiary of Leasinvest Real Estate, a Belgian property firm, bought out its owner, Mercator Sàrl, for €35m. The 8,641m2 complex is best known as the former headquarters of the financial regulator CSSF. The building is currently 42% let.
- Trade unions representing workers at John Zink have called on the National Conciliation Service to arbitrate redundancy scheme talks with management. John Zink, which makes machinery for the oil and gas sector, said in March that it planned to make 54 out of its 319 employees in Luxembourg redundant. But the company and labour leaders were unable to reach an agreement over the restructuring plan during meetings held last week.
- The government currently has no plans to sell its 9.992% stake in Banque international à Luxembourg. Last month Bloomberg News said Qatar’s royal family was seeking buyers its 90% stake for $1.5bn. That would value the grand duchy’s shares at roughly €14m. In response to a parliamentary question, the DP finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, said the state would sell its Bil position “in due course”.
- The grand duchy’s population has nearly reached 600,000. As of 1 January, 590,667 people lived in the country, according to Statec. Nearly half (48%) were not Luxembourg nationals.
- French residents in Luxembourg voted at the Lycée Vauban in the second and final round of France’s presidential election on Sunday. 24,000 out of 35,000 French nationals living in the grand duchy were on the electoral roll. Globally Emmanuel Macron of En Marche received 66% of the vote, while Marine Le Pen of the Front National garnered 34%.
Leasinvest Immo Luxembourg has acquired Mercator, the company that owned the five level Belair district office building pictured here. Leasinvest