First Washington/CalPERS to Acquire Majority Interest in a Nationwide Portfolio of Shopping Centers
July 21 2009 - 1:44PM
PR Newswire (US)
Portfolio Valued at $1.73 Billion BETHESDA, Md., July 21
/PRNewswire/ -- First Washington Realty, Inc., of Bethesda,
Maryland, announced today that its joint venture with the
California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), called
Global Retail Investors, LLC, has entered into a definitive
agreement to purchase a majority interest in a nationwide portfolio
of neighborhood and community shopping centers from Macquarie
CountryWide Trust of Australia with a valuation of $1.73 billion.
The portfolio is comprised of 86 shopping centers located in 17
states and the District of Columbia, totaling approximately 11.5
million square feet. Twenty-six of the shopping centers are located
in the Washington/Baltimore area, and sixteen of the shopping
centers are located in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego
areas. The transaction includes largely the same nationwide
portfolio of shopping centers that First Washington/CalPERS
originally owned and sold to Macquarie CountryWide Trust in 2005.
Under the terms of the agreement, First Washington/CalPERS will
acquire from Macquarie CountryWide Trust a 60% interest in the
portfolio, and Regency Centers Corporation of Jacksonville, Florida
(NYSE:REG) has an option to increase its current interest in the
portfolio from 25% to 40%. The transaction is expected to close by
the end of July. William J. Wolfe, President of First Washington,
said: "We are pleased with the opportunity to once again own this
pre-eminent national portfolio of neighborhood and community
shopping centers. It is a portfolio we know well and one which we
believe offers the opportunity for highly attractive growth and
returns over time." CalPERS is the largest public pension fund in
the United States with assets totaling approximately $180 billion.
It provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.6 million
State and local public employees and their families. The pension
fund is headquartered in Sacramento, California. First Washington
Realty, Inc. is a privately owned real estate investment company
which has a long term joint venture agreement with CalPERS under
which it invests alongside CalPERS in connection with an ongoing
program to acquire and operate neighborhood and community shopping
centers throughout the United States and abroad. DATASOURCE: First
Washington Realty, Inc. CONTACT: CONTACT: First Washington Realty,
Inc., +1-301-907-7800 Web Site: http://www.firstwash.com/
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