New Plan Excel Realty Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust, will pay about $285 million to buy 58 shopping centers from Equity Investment Group in an effort to expand geographically.
New Plan said it will pay Equity Investment, a private, retail-focused REIT, $260 million in cash and $25 million in units of a partnership it controls.
Including $152 million in assumed debt, the total value of the deal is $437 million. New Plan expects the cash component of the transaction will be initially financed through its existing credit facility.
The 58 properties consist of 55 stabilized assets and three redevelopment properties. The deal is expected to close by year-end, New Plan said.
The assets total 7.9 million square feet of gross leasable area. The properties, which are mostly grocery-anchored, were 92 percent leased as of Sept. 30. The properties are in 22 states, mostly in the Central and Eastern regions of the United States.
When the deal is completed, New Plan will own and operate 355 community and neighborhood shopping centers covering about 49.3 million square feet of leasable space.
(source: New Plan Excel)
