BENTLEY FORBES CONTINUES TO RESTRUCTURE PORTFOLIO
FOR GROWTH; SELLS TWO ASSETS IN TRANSACTIONS TOTALING $20
MILLION
Firm Selling Smaller, Non-Core and Maturing Assets as it Expands
Investment Focus to include Larger, Class A Properties; Sold
Properties Include South Dakota Best Buy and Los Angeles Manufacturing
Facility
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2003) – BENTLEYFORBES,
the Los Angeles-based national real estate investment firm,
recently completed the disposition of two properties in separate
transactions totaling $20 million, announced C. Frederick
Wehba II, president, BENTLEYFORBES. "As BENTLEYFORBES
expands our portfolio of commercial properties, we will continue
to review our holdings for maturing or non-core assets,"
said Wehba. " Once we identify these assets for disposition,
we will use sale proceeds to fund further acquisitions. We
are leveraging this strategy to streamline the structure of
our portfolio, making room for acquisitions of larger, class
A properties and portfolios of the same." According to
Wehba, BENTLEYFORBES is positioned to double the value of
its portfolio over the next two years to exceed $2.5 billion,
with the expectation of completing approximately $500 million
of new acquisitions by mid-year 2004. Wehba pointed to the
firm’s recent $134 million acquisition of eight Sacramento-area
class A office properties encompassing more than 700,000 square
feet as an example of its new criteria for investment targets.
Inline with the above described investment strategy, BENTLEYFORBES
recently completed the following property sales: ·
The sale of a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility located
at 5505 E. Olympic Boulevard in the city of Commerce. The
property is fully leased to Gruma, the world’s leading
producer of tortillas, for use in production of its Mission
brand of tortillas. CDC Acquisitions, LLC, acquired the property
in the transaction. · The sale of a 48,000-square-foot
Best Buy retail facility located in the Western Mall at 2104
W. 41st Street in the city of Sioux Fallx, S.D. The facility
is fully leased to Best Buy, a retailer of consumer electronics,
home office equipment, entertainment software and appliances.
EN South Dakota, LLC, acquired the property in the transaction.
BentleyForbes/Dispositions Page 2-2-2 According to
Chad Wehba, chief operating officer of BENTLEYFORBES, the
firm is actively planning its growth strategy by "streamlining
operations, adding senior executives experienced in investment,
finance and portfolio management and expanding our relationships
in the capital markets to include a wider scope of institutional
lenders working with us to facilitate new transactions. Our
access to significant internal and external capital, along
with the subsequent need to broaden our investment criteria,
is compelling us to refine our business practices as we move
forward." He pointed to BENTLEYFORBES’ recent appointment
of Executive Vice President Keith Bjelejac, a longtime finance
executive with Office Depot and the California franchisee
of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, as the type of expert the firm
would be adding to help facilitate its growth. Mr. Bjelejac
will leverage his extensive experience in corporate finance
and operations that includes his oversight of programs and
initiatives related to: mergers and acquisitions, real estate
selection, operational efficiencies, human resources, technology,
finance, investment, new market expansions, corporate growth
and marketing.
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