(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

CLEVELAND-Fresh from its acquisition of a $150-million, joint-venture deal that gave it interests in nine centers in Brazil, Developers Diversified Realty is still looking for overseas opportunities. Company executives say they see a future in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, where asset values are expected to increase.

But executives stress that they will be selective choosing foreign opportunities and will look for strong local partners to choose sites and take on equity. "I don't think you're going to see us investing billions of dollars in any single market," said Scott Wolstein, the firm's chairman and chief executive officer, during DDR's third-quarter conference call.

Additionally, management sees further opportunities after another large transaction, the $6.2-billion deal to buy the 307-center Inland Retail Real Estate Trust portfolio. Following the closing of that deal, DDR executives plan to sell non-strategic assets in its portfolio, team with joint-venture partners that want to buy interests in some of the centers and increase occupancy rates in the newly acquired assets.