Israeli investor and developer Hilla is in talks to buy American tech giant Microsoft's Here offices at Thames Valley Park in Reading.
Hilla has signed a memorandum of understanding to pay £26.45 million for the 78,711-square-foot office, which CoStar News revealed vendor Baumont had recently leased to Microsoft on a 10 year lease.
The MOU concerns the acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of the company that owns the building. US computer giant Microsoft, advised by CBRE, decided to take all of the Here building at Thames Valley Park, the campus where it has occupied a number of buildings formerly for its UK headquarters, last year.
It had centralised its occupation at Thames Valley Park into Buildings 1, 2 and 3, which provide 241,000 square foot of offices in 2020. Buildings 1, 2 and 3 were bought by The Valesco Group, the European real estate investment manager, and AIP Asset Management, the Seoul headquartered asset manager, for around £100 million in 2018.
Microsoft sold Buildings 4 and 5 to Baumont Real Estate, which alongside V7 has redeveloped them as the 146,000-square-foot Here and Now campus. The Now building is also majority-leased.
Microsoft later handed back Building 3, comprising around 50,000 square feet, meaning it leases close to 200,000 square foot in Buildings 1 and 2 until 2026. It is now consolidating all operations into the Here building by 2027 and handing back the remaining space.
Baumont is advised by Hatch Real Estate and Knight Frank at the Here building, with Acre Capital Real Estate understood to be advising on the sale.
It emerged last week that a major gas-powered data centre could be built on the remainder of Microsoft's former UK headquarters site.
Partners, including Arup and Hilson Moran, have submitted proposals for the data centre which would respond to "falling demand for office space" at Thames Valley Park.
Microsoft is not involved in the redevelopment. A public consultation event has been held at Pearson Hall in Sonning.