Norges Bank Acquires 97.7% Stake in Silicon Valley Office Property

Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s $1.76 trillion Government Pension Fund Global, has acquired a large majority stake in an office property in Menlo Park, California, as part of a new joint venture with DivcoWest, owned by DivCore LLC.

According to the firm, it paid $217 million for a 97.7% interest in the property, acquired from a joint venture between Clarion Partners LLC and Invesco Ltd. Real Estate. The deal, which values the property at $222 million, was completed at the end of October. Per Norges Bank, the transaction did not involve financing, and the property carries no debt.

DivcoWest acquired the remaining 2.3% stake; a Divco subsidiary will oversee asset management for the property on behalf of the joint venture.

The property is part of the Sand Hill Collection in Menlo Park, which includes three office campuses on nearly 49 acres, containing 22 buildings with a total of 570,000 square feet.

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The pension giant’s total real estate holdings prior to the acquisition were an estimated 148.71 billion krone ($27.75 billion), spread out among 899 investments in 14 countries and making up 1.7% of its overall portfolio. The GPFG’s U.S. real estate holdings, also excluding the Menlo Park acquisition, are comprised of 453 investments and constitute 0.8% of the pension fund’s total portfolio.