Sony sells Sony City Osaki office building for $1.2 billion

Sony sold its Sony City Osaki office building in Tokyo for $1.2 billion today "in an effort to strengthen its corporate structure," according to a press release published on the company's website.

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai approved and executed the sale contract and closed the sale today. It includes a lease agreement allowing Sony and its subsidiaries to remain in the building for five years after the sale.

"Sony is transforming its business portfolio and reorganizing its assets in an effort to strengthen its corporate structure," the press release reads. "This sale was conducted as a part of this reorganization."

After deductions for the sale to Nippon Building Fund Inc. "and a Japanese institutional investor," Sony received net cash proceeds of $1.1 billion, $445.2 million of which Sony expects to record as operating income.

News of the sale comes in the wake of a report delivered earlier this month in which the company revealed that it expects $1.2 billion in annual operating profits, due in large part to the sale of a subsidiary. In January, Sony Corporation of America announced that it had sold its New York City headquarters for $1.1 billion, a sale that is expected to close this month.

Sony City Osaki was constructed in 2011. Sony touts the many green features of the building enacted from construction to present day energy usage on its website. At a PlayStation Meeting earlier this month, Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4, its next-gen console.