KEY POINTS:
Sotheby's, the auction house that sold about US$6 billion ($7.6 billion) of art last year, agreed to buy its New York City headquarters for US$370 million ($468 million) from RFR Holding.
RFR, the New York real estate company controlled by developer Aby Rosen, will receive certain terms on the sale of art works through Sotheby's as part of the deal.
Sotheby's, whose auction totals rose 46 per cent last year, is taking advantage of an art boom to repurchase the building, at 1334 York Ave and 72nd Street, from RFR. The auction house agreed to sell the 45,800sq m property to an RFR unit for US$175 million in late 2002, when Sotheby's was hit with antitrust fines, and closed the sale in February 2003.
"This is a strategic asset that is valued by our key clients and by our shareholders," said William Sheridan, Sotheby's chief financial officer. "We had to sell it to pay fines and now our fortunes are really positive and we're back where we started."
Sotheby's relations with the developer haven't always been smooth. A year ago, RFR said it was marketing the York Avenue building and had offers of at least US$500 million. In August, Sotheby's said RFR violated the terms of its lease, which required the landlord to offer the tower to Sotheby's first.
- Bloomberg
