Blackstone in Talks to Acquire Shopping Center Owner ROIC

Blackstone is in advanced talks to acquire Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC), a San Diego-based shopping center REIT that focuses on the western U.S. and has a market value of $3.4 billion including debt, Reuters reported. A deal could be finalized in the coming weeks.

Reuters reported that Blackstone is likely to prevail over other private equity firms that have expressed interest in acquiring ROIC, including Bain Capital. Earlier this year, Bain Capital’s real estate arm and retail investor 11North Partners formed a partnership to acquire and operate open-air retail centers in North America.

This past summer, Reuters reported that Blackstone was in early-stage talks to buy ROIC. As of Sept. 30, ROIC owned 93 shopping centers spanning about 10.5 million square feet in California, Oregon and Washington. It reported third-quarter 2024 net income of $32.1 million, up from $8.4 million in the corresponding period a year ago.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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