Reading: Microsoft to 'sell two offices at Thames Valley Park'

US technology giant Microsoft has mandated Knight Frank to seek a vacant possession buyer for two of its offices at its long-term headquarters campus in the UK.

CoStar said it had learnt from market sources that Knight Frank had won the pitch for the sale of Microsoft’s Buildings Four and Five at its Thames Valley Park campus in Reading, one of the best known business locations in the South East.

The freehold campus was developed by Microsoft as five buildings in a row and is let in its entirety to the global technology company’s UK subsidiary, at an average rent of £27 per sq ft.

It no longer owns Buildings One, Two and Three, which CoStar understands will continue as its headquarters in the UK.

Thames Valley Park was originally developed by Argent and much of the remainder is home to technology giant Oracle.

A price and strategy for the disposals of Buildings Four and Five has not filtered through to the market. In total it amounts to around 140,000 sq ft of offices across the two buildings and a development site, Plot Six.

South Korean investors bought Microsoft Buildings One, Two and Three at the campus last November and have refinanced the debt secured against the development with a £55m loan from Legal & General.

Microsoft and Knight Frank declined to comment.

Source: CoStar