BentleyForbes Completes $14-Mil Sale-Leaseback

BLOOMINGTON, MN-BentleyForbes has bought the office/technical center building of GN ReSound Corp. in a sale-leaseback transaction valued at about $14 million. The GN ReSound property is located on nearly 8 acres of land in this southwest Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb, and consists of a single-story, 122,177-sf office/technical center and 381 surface parking stalls.

Simultaneous to the sale closing, BentleyForbes leased the property back to GN ReSound on a triple-net, 10-year lease with renewal options. The terms were not disclosed.

Rob Hervey of NorthMarq Capital’s office in Newport Beach, CA, and Patrick Minea of the firm’s Bloomington office, brokered the transaction. GE Capital Business Asset Funding Corp. in Bellevue, WA, provided financing for the property.

Los Angeles-based BentleyForbes, a fast-growing commercial real estate investment firm, specializes in the sale-leaseback of single-tenant, income-producing properties. Its current portfolio includes office buildings, industrial parks and warehouses.

Although originally developed for Control Data Corp. in the 1960s, the property was expanded during the next decade, and has been leased by Seagate Technology LLC from 1974 until recently. A $5.1-million renovation of the GN ReSound property was completed earlier this year. This renovation included a new building entrance and roof, additional exterior windows and skylights, replacement of the facility’s heating/air-conditioning system, and general tenant improvements.

GN ReSound Corp. is a subsidiary of GN Great Nordic, an international group of expanding information, communication and technology companies with headquarters in Denmark. GN Resound Corp. is a international manufacturer of advanced technologyhearing instruments. The company offers a range of hearing instruments under the GN ReSound, ReSound, Danavox, Beltone, Phillips, and Viennatone brand names, including software-based digital instruments, and digitally programmable and traditional products in all sizes and models.

With its recent acquisition of Beltone, GN ReSound is now the world’s second-largest producer of hearing aids with estimated annual sales of nearly $400 million. Through its Madsen Electronics and Danplex divisions, GN ReSound also produces advancedsoftware-based audiological measurement equipment. GN Great Nordic was founded in 1869 and is listed on both the Copenhagen and London stock exchanges. As of September 2000, GN Great Nordic had total assets of $2.52 billion, total shareholder’s equity of $2.179 billion, and net income of $1.6 billion. Although the company operates globally, 60% of its 5,000 fworldwide employees are located in North America.