Health Care Property Investors Buys Slough Estates USA for $2.9 Billion

Health Care Property Investors said Monday it will buy Slough Estates USA, a real-estate business focused on the life-sciences industry, from the U.K.'s Segro plc for $2.9 billion, including the assumption of $1.2 billion in debt. Slough's 83 properties include the corporate campuses for Genentech and Amgen. Segro said that although Slough is "an excellent business in its own right," it failed to fit into its long-term strategy because its core business is in European office buildings. Slough also has a committed development pipeline of 500,000 square feet, 86% of which is preleased to investment grade tenants, and a future development pipeline of 3.3 million square feet that it will develop based on demand. Most of its properties are in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego County. HCP owns 730 properties in the U.S.; science parks (labs and research centers) are less than 4% of its total portfolio. HCP shares are down 12% YTD.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch, Bloomberg
Commentary: REITs Trading At Big Premium To Book Value • Ten High-Yielding Health Care REITs •
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Health Care Property Investors Inc. (HCP). Competitors: Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (HR), Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (SRZ), Ventas Inc. (VTR), Health Care REIT Inc. (HCN), Nationwide Health Properties Inc. (NHP), Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH), Universal Health Realty Income Trust (UHT)

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