Sony to Sell U.S. Headquarters for $1.1 Billion

by William D'Angelo, posted on 18 January 2013 / 4,352 Views

Sony has agreed to sell its US headquarters for $1.1 billion, according to Bloomberg. After repaying off the debts tied to the Madison Ave. building Sony will receive about $770 million. The company will remain in the building for up to three years. The deal is expected to be finalized in March.

Sony has been downsizing over the last year to counteract four straight years of losses. After the sale of the building broke Sony shares increased by 12 percent. This is the biggest gain since October 14, 2008.

"Given the opportunities and challenges in the current economic and real estate landscape, selling 550 Madison now is a timely and logical strategic move," Nicole Seligman, president of Sony Corp. of America, said in the statement. "Regarding our new headquarters, we continue to look at a number of spaces in Manhattan but have not yet made a decision about where to lease."


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4 Comments

LivingMetal
LivingMetal (on 18 January 2013)

Cut out the fat.

  • +6
Michael-5
Michael-5 (on 18 January 2013)

Where to lease....Damn whoever bought these properties and built skyscrapers in the 60's and 70's are just raking in the cash.

  • +3
nightsurge
nightsurge (on 18 January 2013)

It's true. I know of a few people who bought or inherited land from that time frame, and selling price is about a solid $1 million per acre (purchased at probably ~$500-1000 per acre back then). And that's for smaller cities. I imagine big cities it is way higher.

  • +1
Ssenkahdavic
Ssenkahdavic (on 19 January 2013)

Come to RTP Sony!

  • +2
leo-j
leo-j (on 19 January 2013)

Sony's stock is increasing a lot they went from barely over 10B a month ago.. to nearing 13B in worth

  • +1
johnsobas
johnsobas (on 21 January 2013)

well the yen went down 15% in value, that explains at least half of the increase. Part of it is also because they are expecting further decreases in the future. The whole market in japan is way higher.

  • 0
johnsobas
johnsobas (on 21 January 2013)

by 15% i mean against the dollar, it went down much further against the pound and euro. so that's another part of it.

  • 0