Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, has announced that its US-based real estate arm, through four separate transactions, has acquired a portfolio of office and industrial properties in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, San Francisco and Boston for $400 million.

These acquisitions are consistent with Investcorp’s strategy to invest in well-occupied properties with healthy cash flows located in major US markets displaying strong economic fundamentals and employment growth, said the company in a statement.

The entire industrial portfolio and one of the three office properties are located in the greater Atlanta area, and should be set to benefit from its highly diversified and growing economy, it stated.

As the business capital of the Southeast, Atlanta boasts some of the highest job and population growth projections in the country. The remaining properties are located in the high-performing sub-markets of San Francisco and Boston, which benefit from strong technology, biotechnology, and healthcare driven office demand.

On the acquisition, Mohammed Al Shroogi, Investcorp’s co-chief executive, said: "Atlanta, San Francisco, and Boston are top business destinations with some of the most compelling job and rental growth stories of recent years. All of the properties in this portfolio are well-occupied with strong, stable cash flows and diversified tenant bases, and thus are well aligned with our investment strategy of working with local operating partners to add value to properties that already provide an attractive current yield."

Fahad Murad, the managing director at Investcorp for Bahrain, said: "In the last twelve months, Investcorp’s total US real estate acquisitions have exceeded $1.1 billion, further enhancing our extensive experience in real estate investments. These acquisitions perfectly reflect our strategy and we think they are a great addition to our real estate portfolio in the US."

The acquired properties are:

*Stone Mountain Portfolio (Atlanta): This 69-building industrial portfolio is located in the Stone Mountain sub-market and enjoys excellent ransportation access throughout the Atlanta metro area, which is one of the top five distribution markets in the US. The properties are occupied by a diverse roster of long-term tenants that range from large international companies which use the park as a Southeast distribution hub to smaller, locally-based operations that require easy access to a variety of Atlanta neighborhoods.

*Paces West (Atlanta): This class A, multi-tenant, office complex in the Northwest submarket of Atlanta consists of two adjacent mid-rise office towers occupied by a diverse, credit-worthy tenant base with limited near-term rollover.

Already one of the most affluent areas in Atlanta, the location surrounding the property is undergoing a major revitalization with over $2 billion of public and private investment in transit, retail, entertainment, and office construction, which should support continued rent growth and strong occupancy levels going forward.

*Ballardvale Office Portfolio (Massachusetts): This multi-tenant, class B office park is located in the Route 128/I-93 office market, which is 15 miles north of Boston, providing easy access for the region’s highly desirable, well-educated workforce.

The tenants at Ballardvale, of which more than 50 per cent are investment grade and/or publicly traded companies, span a broad range of businesses including manufacturing, printing/publishing, technology, biotechnology and education.

*Tower Plaza, San Mateo, California: This class B multi-tenant office complex located in the San Francisco submarket of San Mateo consists of a twelve-storey office tower, three two-storey plaza buildings, one single storey plaza building, and a five-story parking garage. Located between San Francisco and Palo Alto, Tower Plaza is highly accessible to employees commuting from the San Francisco Community Benefits District, Silicon Valley, East Bay and the highly affluent Mid-Peninsula neighbourhoods immediately surrounding the property.

Investcorp said it had partnered with several local and regional operating partners to acquire these properties. The properties acquired total more than 5.5 million sq ft with an average occupancy rate of 85 per cent.

The company plans to add value to the properties through upgrades, renovations and capital investment.-TradeArabia News Service