Bahrain's Mumtalakat acquires office buildings in the United States in partnership with Sentinel

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced today its acquisition of office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina Metropolitan Area. The transaction marks Mumtalakat’s second investment in the United States commercial real estate market this year in partnership with Sentinel Real Estate Investment Corporation (Sentinel). This follows the February 2018 Mumtalakat’s acquisition alongside other strategic investors of Lenovo Global Headquarters in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Mumtalakat has adopted a real estate strategy for the acquisition of high quality, well occupied, long-term yielding properties in growing cities with solid economic and market fundamentals in the United States. The strategy targets middle market core-plus and light value-add investment opportunities in various subsectors including offices, industrial and multifamily. The 421,863 square foot (39,192 square metre) property consists of two LEED Silver Certified newly-constructed buildings, which are fully occupied by The Lash Group, a leading pharmaceutical and healthcare service provider. Founded in 1986, The Lash Group designs, develops and implements support programmes for healthcare providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers. It is a subsidiary of AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC), one of the largest pharmaceutical services companies in the USA, which currently ranks 12th on the Fortune 500 list and is rated A- by Standard & Poor’s. Commenting on the acquisition, Mahmood H. Alkooheji, Chief Executive Officer of Mumtalakat explained, “The American commercial real estate market has always been of interest, particularly due to its current positive economic outlook. We look favourably upon commercial property leased for the long term by reputable companies.” “A highly desirable destination for businesses and job seekers, Charlotte is the fourth fastest growing large city in the US and is ranked sixth in the country for its employment growth, which rose by 2.8% over the last year. At the same time, our partnership with Sentinel is successful due to our shared commitment to best practices. We are confident that through this collaboration, we will achieve our growth objectives,” he added. John H. Streicker, Chairman of Sentinel said “Sentinel is very pleased to be in partnership with Mumtalakat on our second joint acquisition this year.  The Mumtalakat and Sentinel investment teams function well together with a high degree of respect and cooperation, giving us the ability to act quickly and reliably in this competitive environment.  Where there are competing buyers, as was the case here, it is important that the market recognises both Mumtalakat and Sentinel as skillful and dependable real estate professionals. The Lash Portfolio investment, with its notable combination of strong market fundamentals, an investment grade credit tenant and state-of-the-art construction quality, has all the attributes of a sound and profitable acquisition.  We look forward to a continuing partnership with Mumtalakat in the future.”