Vanguard Group Inc. [profile] is expanding its shipyard with additional members to its fleet.

The fund giant is buying a $40 million complex that is adjacent to its current campus, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

The new property will add three buildings to its Malvern campus, which consists of structures named after ships in Admiral Nelson's Fleet in the Battle of the Nile.

The existing fleet includes the Majestic, the Victory, the Zealous, the Morgan and the Swiftsure. Admiral Nelson Drive commands the campus.

Across the street there are buildings named after other notable ships such as the Chesterfield and the Liberty.

Naval culture is pervasive in Vanguard's complex. Employees, who are called "crew-members," eat in the "galley" and use the "head."

The newly purchased complex comprises a total of 517,485 square feet and sits on 87 acres that would allow the mutual fund giant to expand by another 390,000 square feet in two additional office buildings.

The property is under agreement and is being sold by Pfizer Inc., a pharmaceutical company that inherited the buildings when it bought Wyeth Inc. Pfizer decided in 2009 it would no longer need the Malvern property.

An important question is which names will be assigned to the three new buildings. There were a total of 13 ships of the line in Nelson's Fleet. Remaining available names include the Theseus, Minotaur, and Bellerophon, among others.

However, there are other possibilities. During Nelson's time, the British Navy regularly expanded its fleet by seizing ships lost by the enemy in battle and then renaming them. Hence, these new buildings could be given the British names of whatever ships Nelson ultimately seized after his Nile victory.

The full story is available on the Philadelphia Business Journal website.

 

Edited by: Tommy Fernandez


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