Finland's Technopolis expands into Estonia

TALLIN, ESTONIA-Helsinki-listed Finnish developer Technopolis has expanded into Estonia in a joint venture with Tallinn-based Smart City and its subsidiary Ülemiste City, which holds a 753,000-square-foot property portfolio valued at $86 million.

Technopolis will acquire a 51% stake in a JV to be set up by Smart City, with Ulemiste holding 49%. The new company, Technopolis Ülemiste, will hold the property which is located next to Tallinn Airport, including about 506,000 square feet of modern office buildings. On completion of the deal, expected in June, Technopolis-Ulemiste will become part of the Technopolis Group, and will hold about 10% of the Tallinn office space market.

Technopolis Chairman Pertti Huuskonen commented: “Technopolis Ülemiste will be our first international acquisition and lays an excellent foundation for further growth in Estonia. The Technopolis growth strategy calls for establishing operations in two-three new countries outside Finland by the year 2014.”, Technopolis provides business and development services for knowledge-intensive companies and organisations, and has centers in Espoo, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Tampere and Vantaa in Finland, and St. Petersburg in Russia.