Slough Estates has sold a 764,000 sq ft portfolio of office properties at Pleasanton, California, for $182m (£103m) to Triple Net Properties.
Chief executive Ian Coull said: “The sale of Pleasanton – at a significant premium to its most recent valuation – represents a further major step in the focusing of our US portfolio on the development of properties for biotech companies around San Francisco and San Diego.”
He added: “We believe that this sector will continue to flourish in these two major metropolitan areas as both markets have clearly become world leading centres for biotech operations, directly adjacent to major related research institutions and based in North American markets in which the natural demand for their products is underpinned by an ageing but affluent population.
“We have a strong development pipeline in place.”
Slough Estates’ US portfolio amounts to some 5 million sq ft of property worth about $1.5 bn (£0.85m) – including the Pleasanton land.
References: EGi News 20/10/05
