$103M Sale Completes Glimcher Repositioning

COLUMBUS, OH-Glimcher Realty Trust this week closed the lion’s share of a $103-million sale of 25 community centers, all but completing its transition to a REIT focused only on regional malls. The properties involved in the transaction encompass approximately 2.4 million sf of gross leasable area in 11 different states. The buyers, Bromont Investments (Walt Rector) of Scottsdale, AZ and San Diego, CA-based Dolgen Ventures, have closed on 23 of the 25 properties for $91.9 million. Acquisition of the remaining two properties will close upon approval for assumption of the loans on the properties. The partnership is funding the transaction with a $116-million loan from Merrill Lynch Capital that includes senior and mezzanine debt. The excess financing will be used for ongoing improvements to the assets. The financing was sourced by the Dallas office of NorthMarq Capital. Between 2000 and 2004, Glimcher disposed of 89 community center and single-tenant assets for a total of $487.4 million. Upon completion of this latest transaction, it will own 25 regional malls representing 89.5% of the total portfolio GLA (24.4 million sf) and 93.6% of total portfolio annualized minimum rents.Glimcher Realty president Michael Glimcher says the sale is “an important step in the execution of our plan to focus on regional mall assets.” He adds that the pay down of debt as a result of the transaction “will improve our ratio of debt to market capitalization, reduce our exposure to variable rate debt and provide an opportunity to pursue acquisition and development opportunities.”Also this week, Glimcher announced it has found a permanent replacement for former CFO Melinda Janik, who resigned in April. Her successor is Mark Yale, most recently CFO of Storage USA, a division of GE Real Estate of Memphis, TN. Prior to joining Storage USA, Yale was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Baltimore, MD. Yale will assume his position at the end of August. Glimcher COO William Cornely has been handling CFO duties in the interim.In late afternoon trading, shares of Glimcher stock stood at $22.09, up $0.03 on the day.