Bedford Property Ponders Sale of Company

Bedford Property Investors Inc., an owner of West Coast office and warehouse properties, hired investment bank Lehman Bros. Inc. for a possible sale of the company. The move comes after the Lafayette-based company suffered a more than 18% drop in its stock price this year, which made it harder for the company to raise capital and invest in properties. Besides a sale of the company, Bedford said alternatives include spinning off certain properties. At the end of the first quarter, Bedford owned more than 80 office and warehouse properties with about 7 million square feet of space in the West. Bedford shares rose 81 cents to close at $18.56 on the New York Stock Exchange.