DDR to Close on $6B Takeover

CLEVELAND,OH-Developers Diversified Realty Corp. will spin off about 120 retail properties when it finalizes its $6.2-billion takeover of Inland Retail Real Estate Trust later this month. The buyer says the deal will realign its portfolio to give DDR ownership of the dominant retail centers in its markets.

Officials with the Cleveland-based buyer say they are currently negotiating joint-venture deals for $1.5 billion in Inland assets representing 65 shopping centers in major metropolitan areas in the Southeast. The Inland acquisition, a joint venture with TIAA-CREF, will give the partners more than 300 community and neighborhood shopping centers and single tenant, net-leased retail properties totaling about 43.6 million sf. That sale is set to close later this month.

The company, which owns and manages more than 500 retail and development properties totaling 118 million sf, said it also plans to sell off another portfolio of 60 to 70 non-core assets owned by both Inland and DDR. That deal, which is expected to generate between $600 million and $700 million, is set to close in the second or third quarter of 2007.