Investcorp Real Estate Makes Over $100 million of Acquisitions in Past 30 Days

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Investcorp's US-based real estate arm today announced the acquisition of Coral Palm Plaza, a 135,672 square foot shopping center located in Coral Springs, Florida in a joint venture with Lincoln Equities. This was the most recent of three purchases made by Investcorp over the past 30 days with a total value of approximately $105 million. The first was the acquisition, in January, of Princeton Forrestal Village, a 550,000 square foot mixed-use development in Princeton, New Jersey. The second was the acquisition earlier this month, in joint venture with Global Fund Investments, of Shops at Tech Ridge, a 332,845 square foot retail power center in Austin, Texas.

Coral Palm Plaza was built in 1986 and renovated in 2000. It is currently 94% leased to 22 diversified retailers including the Bed Bath & Beyond subsidiary Buybuy Baby, national chain Michaels Arts & Crafts and regional specialty grocer Doris' Italian Market. It is situated on University Drive, a high traffic retail and commercial corridor that runs through Coral Springs, a well established, stable and relatively young and affluent residential community.

Tech Ridge was built in 2003 and is 84% leased to a variety of tenants the majority of which are national chains. These include Hobby Lobby, Toys 'R Us, Best Buy, Ross and Petsmart. It fronts onto Interstate 35, the major North-South route through Austin. Austin has proved extremely resilient during the recent recession as a result of the government, technology and education employers in the area.  Following this acquisition, Investcorp now owns 24 shopping centers in the State of Texas.  

Princeton Forrestal Village was built in 1987 and was significantly remodeled in 2007 with improvements to the exterior and landscaping that have attracted new retailers, services and restaurants. The 42 acre site now houses offices, a 294-room Westin Hotel and Conference Center, three restaurants, a food court, a fitness center and spa/salon, as well as a newly developed daycare center. Princeton has retained a strong demographic profile and solid population and employment characteristics and has seen relatively less impact from the economic downturn.

All three properties are evidence of Investcorp's focus on assets with strong fundamentals, such as stable anchor tenants and favorable long-term demographic trends.

Herb Myers, a Managing Director at Investcorp, said, "We're definitely seeing more opportunities to buy assets with the characteristics we want -- assets that generate reliable cash flow, offer interesting upside, and provide the stability that comes with being situated in robust US sub-markets and regions.  We're well-positioned to execute transactions and so we'll act decisively when we find these kinds of opportunities."

About Investcorp

Investcorp was founded in 1982 and is a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products. It has offices in New York, London and Bahrain and is publicly traded on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (INVCORP). Investcorp has three business areas: real estate investment in the US, corporate investment in the US, Europe and the Gulf and global hedge funds.  

Further information is available at www.investcorp.com.

SOURCE Investcorp