Eindhoven city council is planning to buy the high-tech Brainport Industries Campus from British investor Capreon.

Some 40 companies are located on BIC1, including ASML and VDL, parts of Eindhoven University, and the Avans hbo college.

The purchase is of “strategic importance”, the city’s economics chief Stijn Steenbakkers said. “We are talking about crucial economic infrastructure, which we want to keep a grip on,” he said. “Now we have the chance to buy it, we will seize it with both hands.”

BIC1 covers 105,000 square metres and is located close to the airport. Some 2,000 people and 500 students work there.

Capreon bought the campus in 2020 and approached the city about a sale last summer. Neither side would comment to Dutch News about the financial details. The deal will be funded from the city’s own resources and a loan on the capital markets.

City councillors will vote on the deal in February, and Capreon will remain on-site to manage the grounds and buildings for three to five years.

In 2021, the city attempted to buy the region’s High Tech Campus, which is now in the hands of a Singaporean state fund.

BIC1 is due to expand later with a BIC2 development, and ASML is building a new complex known as BIC3, which covers 500,000 square metres.

The Dutch state is not involved in the project, and none of the funding will come from “Project Beethoven”, a government-led initiative to keep the Dutch high-tech industry in the Netherlands.