Winterthur Life UK, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse, has further boosted the Basingstoke office market with its acquisition of Dextra Court, Chapel Hill, Basingstoke, the 42,000 sq ft office building due to be vacated in the next few weeks by Eli Lilly and Company, as a result of its move to Norfolk House.

The two-storey campus office building, adjacent to the main line railway station was developed in 1987 by Heron Hi Tech and funded by Unilever Superannuation fund and originally let to Eli Lilly and Company, subject to a break clause in December 2002. The investment was purchased by Helical Bar approximately four years ago.

Jim Ryan, operations director at Winterthur Life, said: "We will be moving almost 300 members of staff into the new building. As well as creating a new staff restaurant and a training suite, we will be upgrading the office accommodation and the staff will be totally involved in the re-design."

Andrew Newman of Vail Williams, who acted for Winterthur, said: "This acquisition represents the conclusion of a long search for additional premises for Winterthur, who now employ some 800 staff in Basingstoke. The property is situated immediately opposite the existing Winterthur head office, and our clients are proposing to carry out a full refurbishment."

Although the property was not formally offered on the market, the purchase price is understood to be in the region of £4.5m. Helical Bar also received a sum from Eli Lilly and Company in compensation for vacating the premises."