Blackstone cashing out of shopping center REIT Brixmor

Blackstone is offloading its shares in shopping center REIT Brixmor Property Group. The move comes six months after Brixmor’s CEO resigned due to an internal review that found irregularities in the company’s financial results.

The firm has launched a secondary offering for 42.4 million shares in Brixmor. When the offering ends, Blackstone is expected to distribute its remaining 455,585 shares in Brixmor to its partners.

Brixmor, which owns 86 million s/f across 500 retail centers, is the landlord to retailers TJX Companies (which operates TJ Maxx and Marshalls) and The Kroger Company. The firm’s top executives resigned last February after it was revealed that its accounting staff manipulated the numbers to show consistent growth in company income.

According to a Reuters report from earlier this year, Blackstone was the largest shareholder in the REIT with a 36.24 percent stake. Brixmor went public in 2013, raising $825 million in an IPO. Blackstone will no longer have a stake in Brixmor once the offering is complete.

Blackstone cashing out of shopping center REIT Brixmor : Real Estate Weekly