(Bloomberg) -- Aggregate Holdings SA is in negotiations to sell its Quartier Heidestrasse development project in Berlin to an Australian pension fund as the company races to pay down debt. 

The real estate investor, part-owned and run by Austrian tycoon Cevdet Caner, is in talks to sell the project close to Berlin’s main railway station to AustralianSuper Pty, people with knowledge of the negotiations said. The talks are ongoing and there is no certainty a deal will be concluded, the people added, asking not to be identified as the process is private. 

“Due to the attractivity of Quartier Heidestrasse, Aggregate has received many offers from interested parties, who want to procure one or more elements,” a spokesman for Aggregate wrote in an email. “While we’re open for offers, we will only sell if the price, time and buyer are right.”

A spokesman for AusSuper declined to comment. 

Aggregate has already sold parts of the project to Vivion Investments Sarl as it works to shore up its finances. The investor has been under pressure to reduce debt after allegations of systemic fraud were leveled at Adler Group SA, a German landlord in which it was the largest shareholder. The collapse of Adler’s shares triggered a margin call that resulted in Aggregate losing most of its stake. 

Adler rejected the allegations that were leveled by a short-seller and a former associate of Caner’s. It has said that a forensic audit by KPMG failed to prove systemic fraud. Aggregate hired law firm Hogan Lovells to conduct a separate review which it said cleared it of all allegations. 

Quartier Heidestrasse, which was 73% completed as of August, includes apartments, offices and stores, spanning several city blocks a short walk from Berlin’s central station. The company hired broker CBRE Group Inc to handle any potential sale.

The development has a residual value of €2.1 billion and will have about 236,000 square meters of rentable space, according to Aggregate’s latest half-year report. It is expected to generate rent of about €89 million, the report shows.

A sale would provide vital liquidity for Aggregate after it extended a key repayment deadline on €250 million of bonds used to finance a Portuguese real estate development subsidiary. 

AusSuper has been investing in long-term development projects in Europe and has already bought into London’s King’s Cross and Canada Water projects. 

--With assistance from Laura Benitez.

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