Experian Agrees to $27 Million Sale Leaseback Office Building Near Chicago

Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily - April 29, 2009

A New York investment firm has a contract to buy a northwest suburban office building from Experian PLC in a roughly $27-million sale/leaseback deal, in a bid by the credit reporting agency to raise cash and cut costs.

Credit reporting agency Experian has a contract to sell and lease back this building in Schaumburg.

The transaction could be one of the few deals to close this year in the suburban office market, which has come to nearly a standstill because of banks' tighter lending standards, sellers' reluctance to cut prices and buyers' concern about rising vacancy rates.

Experian owns a two-building complex totaling 296,000 square feet at 955 American Lane in Schaumburg. The company, which is advised by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., has agreed to sell the larger of the two structures, an 189,000-square-foot building called the East Building, to U.S. Realty Advisors LLC, according to sources familiar with the transaction.

U.S. Realty last month formed a company called XP Property LLC, to hold title to the building, Illinois corporate records show. The price is about $27 million or $28 million, sources say. Experian has agreed to sign a long-term lease for the building, which was built in 1999, sources say.

Experian’s strong financial performance may have made the transaction attractive to U.S. Realty, a low-profile firm that specializes in single-tenant properties. Dublin, Ireland-based Experian’s revenue rose 18.6% to $4.1 billion during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, compared to the previous year. North America accounted for about half of the company’s revenue.

Jack Genende, U.S. Realty’s chief financial officer, and Grant Freeman, managing director in Jones Lang’s corporate capital markets group who is based in Southern California, declined to comment. A Schaumburg-based spokesman for Experian also declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the company is looking for tenants to lease space in its West Building, a 107,000-square-foot structure built in 1985, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc. Experian plans to vacate that building. Sphere: Related Content