Like Slough, Mainland specializes in the provision of flexible business space for corporate occupiers and clients include Nikon, KLM, Unisys, Microsoft and UPC.

Mainland is currently part of the Kuiper Group and Slough Estates will initially purchase 60% of Mainland from the shareholder, Jelle Kuiper. A company statement adds that Slough would be acquiring not only an established and experienced team but also an existing pipeline of opportunities. This allows for the development of 130,000 sm of offices and industrial accommodation.

"This is an ideal way of entering the Dutch market. Mainland is a specialist developer in Slough's core business areas of suburban office and industrial. Their clients are remarkably similar to our own in Continental Europe and in the UK. We believe that the strong fit between the two companies will allow us to benefit from our mutual client base," says Walter Hens, Slough Estates' European managing director.

Slough and Mainland's first collaboration together will be in providing Corendon, the Dutch travel and airline company, with a new 1,500-sm facility at Lijnden Business Park, just to the north of Schiphol Airport.

Slough Estates offers flexible business space in business parks in Western Europe and North America. It has over 1,500 customers occupying 2,996,967 sm of business space, with a total value of euro 5.8 billion ($7.08 billion).

Mainland BV is part of the Kuiper Group and specializes in the development of offices and industrial accommodation in the Randstad region of Holland. Based in Hoofdorp, close to Schiphol airport, Mainland currently has a development pipeline incorporating six sites located around Schiphol and elsewhere in the Randstad.