Hudson To Acquire EOP Northern California Portfolio In $3.5 Bln Cash, Stock Deal

(RTTNews) - Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. (HPP) Monday said it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement under which Hudson will acquire Equity Office Properties' San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley portfolio, collectively called the EOP Northern California Portfolio, from Blackstone Real Estate Partners V and VI in a stock and cash transaction valued at $3.5 billion.

The purchase solidifies Hudson's position as the leading West Coast office REIT. Upon closing of the transaction, Hudson is expected to have an equity market capitalization of $3.7 billion and total enterprise value of around $6.5 billion.

The deal brings together two highly complementary office portfolios with a combined asset base of 53 properties totaling about 14.6 million square feet across Northern and Southern California and the Pacific Northwest.

As per the agreement, the company will fund the acquisition with $1.75 billion in cash and approximately 63.5 million Hudson common shares and operating partnership units issued to Blackstone.

The parties currently expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2015, and to be immediately accretive to Hudson's normalized Funds From Operations in 2015.