Once again, the States provides a simple statistic which gives an idea as to what is in store for Europe. In the US, around 18% of property is held by occupiers. In Europe, JLL estimate that this figure is nearer 70%. And with the huge pools of institutional and private capital scouring for product across Europe, this stock is a natural store of opportunity.

The key to the current mood appears to lie under the sweeping heading of globalisation. The standards which companies now have to live by are getting more demanding, as companies become pan-European or even global. It is similar to the pressure that US companies found themselves under when competition from Asia entered its market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "The US had a wake-up call. The Japanese and Taiwanese came in and household name companies were brought to their knees. The competition shook them to their foundations and it made them focus on core competencies and they had to look at their real estate," explains Kavanagh.

This is now happening on a wider scale to corporates in Europe. The list of competitors is longer and more mercenary; you don't have to be a large, or well-established company, to undertake takeovers as NatWest Bank is finding in the UK as it is pursued by two smaller competitors.

And as with any trends in Europe, the single currency has had a hand. "The euro has made companies more pan-European. They are focusing on the bottom line including non-traditional lines. They now view real estate as an active part of the company, a part that should be as responsive as other revenue-generating parts of the business," says Simon Blaxland, executive director, investment banking division at Goldman Sachs.

Part of this is defensive. Changes to accounting methods are creeping in but analysts, and therefore investors, are already scrutinising companies more carefully and under-utilised assets in the form of property is going to be seen as a weakness, particularly as merger activity increases.