Private equity heavyweight Blackstone Group’s Brixmor Property Group is expected to raise $905.6 million in an initial public offering, making it the biggest IPO yet for a retail real estate investment trust.
The deal, in which Brixmor is offering 37.5 million shares for $19 to $21 apiece, is to go public today. An extra 5.6 million shares is being set aside for underwriters. A Brixmor sale would top the $812 million that California-based house-rental firm American Homes 4 Rent — second to Blackstone in the number of single-family rentals it owns – raised in July. Indianapolis-based mall owner Simon Property Group raised $840 million in its IPO back in 1993.
Brixmor is valued at $13 billion.
“It’s a great time to sell,” Anthony Breault, senior real estate investment officer for Oregon’s pension fund, told Bloomberg News. “Leasing is back up and there’s a froth of demand for income-producing assets.” [Bloomberg News] — Mark Maurer