Health Care Property Investors Inc. said Monday it is buying Slough Estates USA Inc., a unit of United Kingdom-based real estate firm Segro Plc, for $1.7 billion in cash.

The Long Beach-based a real estate investment trust said in a release that the deal is valued at $2.9 billion, including the assumption or refinancing of about $1.2 billion in debt. The REIT obtained a commitment for a $3 billion bridge loan in connection with the transaction.

Slough’s 83-property portfolio, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego County, includes some of the nation’s largest corporate life science campuses and tenants ranging from Genentech Inc. and Amgen Inc. The company also has a pipeline containing 3.8 million square feet.

Slough’s management team is expected to continue to manage the portfolio. Its chief executive, Marshall Lees, will also become executive vice president of a new life science group at Health Care Property Investors.

UBS analyst Omotayo Okusanya said that while life-sciences market is a good one, the price that Health Care Property’s paying could result in some short-term stock weakness, according to CBS MarketWatch.

Shares were down 19 cents to $32.22 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange