HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Kimco Realty of New York is acquiring Weingarten Realty Investors, the shopping center developer that originated as an offshoot of the former Weingarten’s grocery chain in Houston.
Kimco Realty will pay $3.9 billion in a combination of cash and stock to acquire Weingarten Realty, which owns 159 properties totaling more than 30 million square feet across 15 states.
Both companies specialize in open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery-anchored centers outperformed traditional enclosed regional malls that relied heavily on apparel and department stores.
Following the merger, the combined company will control a portfolio of 559 open-air grocery-anchored shopping centers and mixed-use assets, totaling approximately 100 million square feet.
“After examining the deal from every angle, it became increasingly clear that the potential of the integrated business is much greater than the sum of its parts,” said Drew Alexander, Chairman and CEO of Weingarten. “The combined company’s increased size and scale, together with its financial strength, should drive an advantageous cost of capital, allowing the combined company to more readily pursue value-creation opportunities. We are excited to deliver this transaction to our shareholders, who will realize compelling and immediate value while also benefiting from the upside potential associated with owning the industry’s preeminent open-air shopping center and mixed-use REIT.”
Alexander, 64, joined the Houston-based firm in 1978. He has served as a trustee for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and as Chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), in addition to participating in local charitable leadership.
After the merger, Kimco’s management team will lead the combined company, with Conor Flynn serving as Chief Executive Officer. The company headquarters will remain in Jericho, New York. The combined firm will retain the Kimco name and continue trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol KIM.
Weingarten’s Houston-area holdings include more than a dozen centers, such as River Oaks Shopping Center on West Gray Street, the former Randall’s center in Bellaire, and the Trader Joe’s center on Shepherd Drive.
Stanford Alexander, 92, chairman emeritus of Weingarten Realty Investors, played a key role in expanding Weingarten in earlier decades.
Weingarten Realty shares, traded on the NYSE, closed at $30.90 on Thursday, up $3.56, or 12.5 percent.
April 15, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
File: Kimco Buying Weingarten Realty for $3.9 Billion
Photo credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report Copyright 2021
For more about Texas real estate, see the book Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town – An Extreme Close Up by Ralph Bivins. Available on Amazon