Blackstone to Take ROIC Private in $4B All-Cash Deal

Blackstone, through its Blackstone Real Estate Partners X fund, has agreed to buy Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC) for approximately $4 billion, including debt, in an all-cash deal.

Blackstone will pay $17.50 per share, a 34% premium to ROIC’s closing share price on July 29, 2024, the last trading day prior to news reports of a potential sale.

ROIC’s portfolio consists of 93 high-quality, grocery-anchored retail properties totaling 10.5 million square feet in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.

“This transaction reflects our strong conviction in necessity-based, grocery anchored shopping centers in densely populated geographies,” said Jacob Werner, co-head of Americas acquisitions at Blackstone Real Estate. “The sector is experiencing accelerating fundamentals, benefiting from nearly a decade of virtually no new construction, while demand for brick-and-mortar grocery stores, restaurants, fitness and other lifestyle retailers remains healthy.”

San Diego-based ROIC is the largest publicly traded, grocery-anchored shopping center REIT focused exclusively on the West Coast. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

In June, Blackstone Real Estate announced its largest-ever apartment portfolio deal with the acquisition of Apartment Income REIT Corp. (AIR Communities) in an all-cash transaction valued at $10 billion.

J.P. Morgan acted as ROIC’s exclusive financial advisor. Clifford Chance US LLP served as ROIC’s legal counsel. BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Newmark, and Eastdil Secured acted as Blackstone’s financial advisors. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as Blackstone’s legal counsel.

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About Joe Palmisano

Joe Palmisano is Editorial Director for Connect Money, where he brings nearly three decades experience of market insights as a financial journalist, analyst and senior portfolio manager for leading financial publications, advisory firms, and hedge funds. In his role as Editorial Director, Joe is responsible for the selection of content and creation of daily business news covering the financial markets, including Alternative Assets, Direct Investment and Financial Advisory services. Before joining Connect Money, Joe was a financial journalist for the Wall Street Journal, regularly publishing feature stories and trend pieces on the foreign exchange, global fixed income and equity markets. Joe parlayed his experience as a financial journalist into roles as a Senior Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager, writing daily and weekly market analysis and managing a FX and US equity portfolio. Joe was also a contributing writer for industry magazines and publications, including SFO Magazine and the CMT Association. Joe earned a B.S.B.A. in Finance from The American University. He holds the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.

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