Maguire Properties Inc. (MPG), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently sold Lantana Media Entertainment Campus, a 463,000 square feet studio production and creative office property in Santa Monica, California, to reduce debt. The property was sold to an affiliate of Lionstone Group, a Houston-based private real estate investment firm for more than $200 million.
Lantana Media Entertainment Campus is one of the largest entertainment properties in the U.S., and is currently home to entertainment industry heavyweights such as IMAX Corporation, NBC Universal Television, Dick Clark Productions and Revolution Studios.
The asset sale was part of the continued efforts by Maguire Properties to raise cash to reduce debt and improve liquidity. In addition, the company also sold an office property to an affiliate of The Recording Academy, which is internationally recognized for the GRAMMY Awards.
The cash proceeds from the two asset sale transactions were utilized to reduce debt by $176 million, and provided an additional $19 million after repayment of the loans. Maguire Properties’ debt burden stemmed primarily from its acquisition binge. In 2007, the company bought $2.875 billion of assets at the peak of the real estate bubble. The acquisition put Maguire Properties heavily in debt, and it is now trying to offload properties to reduce debt.
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