The Japanese investment firm that bought a string of D.C. assets in 2016 and 2017 has reached a deal to be acquired.
Unizo Holdings Co. told shareholders last week it reached an agreement with Chitocea Investment Co. to buy all of the company's shares for $1.84B, CoStar reports.
Chitocea Investment Co. is a coalition of Unizo employees and Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, which owns a 27% stake in the partnership. Blackstone and Fortress Investment Group also competed to buy Unizo, according to CoStar.
The group will take over the six remaining assets Unizo owned in D.C.: the Executive Building, the Colorado Building, Capitol View, 1111 19th St. NW, 1100 First St. NE and the CNN building in NoMa.
Unizo retained CBRE in October to market its remaining D.C. assets, which totaled 1.3M SF. In November, it sold one of the properties, 1325 G St. NW, to Westbrook Partners for $175M, the Washington Business Journal reported.
The Japanese investor also sold 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW in July to Novel Coworking. In March 2019, it sold 50 F St. NW to Penzance Cos. for $85M. In each deal, Unizo sold the building for less than it paid for the property during its buying spree.
The investor acquired at least nine D.C. office buildings totaling more than 2M SF and $1.4B over an 18-month period beginning in March 2016. It also acquired a series of buildings in New York that it has since sold.
