WINNIPEG, CANADA-The largest industrial transaction of the year in Manitoba has closed with British Columbia Investment Management Corp. acquiring 46 buildings totaling 2.2 million sf. The transaction with Sun-X Properties Ltd., the largest industrial landlord in this Western Canadian city, also includes a prime 35-acre developable tract.

Bentall Capital, the management arm of Victoria, BC-based BCIMC, negotiated for the buyer. Representatives of the Bob Anjelic family, which founded Sun-X and has operated the company for 20 years, negotiated for Sun-X. Buyer and seller didn't disclose the acquisition price in a statement prepared by BCIMC. GlobeSt.com couldn't reach the parties by publication deadline.

However, local industrial brokers familiar with the Sun-X brand and most of the properties involved tell GlobeSt.com the industrial space probably had a closing price of at least $50 per sf. The 35-acre parcel would have gone for at least $75,000 per acre or $1.72 per sf, the sources estimate. They conservatively put the entire deal at an estimated $113 million.

Chuck Swanson, BCIMC's vice president of real estate, says the deal marked his company's entrance to Manitoba's industrial real estate market. In his firm's statement, Swanson calls the transaction "a once in a generation opportunity to enter the Winnipeg market with a large portfolio of buildings that are well located, well built and occupied by very high quality tenants."

Bentall Capital executive vice president Randy Magnussen calls the 35-acre part of the deal especially strategic for BCIMC. "It will provide an opportunity for tenants within the existing portfolio to grow and to accommodate new tenants in highly efficient, new generation industrial and flex space," he says.