The second-largest U.S. shopping-center landlord, Brixmor Property Group Inc., is hoping to raise $787.5 million in a U.S. initial public offering largely to pay down debt. The REIT, owned by Blackstone Group LP, is offering 37.5 million shares for $19 to $21 each. Proceeds will be used mainly to pay down about $628.5 million in debt, the company indicated in its SEC filing.
New York-based Brixmor manages a national portfolio of about 522 retail properties totaling more than 87 million square feet of retail space. Its shopping centers, located in 39 states, are primarily anchored by grocers or leading discounters. Brixmor is the largest landlord (by gross leasable retail space) to The TJX Cos., The Kroger Co., Ahold USA, Dollar Tree, Inc., and Staples, Inc., according to the company’s website.
The company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BRX”. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities and Barclays are among the lead underwriters for the IPO.
Blackstone acquired the bulk of Brixmor’s assets in 2011, when it bought U.S. shopping centers from Centro Properties Group of Australia for $9 billion.
Brixmor says its current portfolio is performing well. “Our Same Property Portfolio delivered same property NOI growth of 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent during the year ended Dec. 31, 2012 and the six months ended June 30, 2013, respectively,” the filing said. Those results were better than the peer averages of 3.2 percent and 3.8 percent during those periods, according to the filing.