BETHESDA, MD—Washington Prime Group, the Simon Property spin off of its strip center business, is moving to establish its portfolio. On Tuesday morning Washington Prime Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Simon Property's interest in a portfolio of seven open-air shopping centers, a transaction that is expected to close later this week.

Previously, Washington Prime held between 32% to 42% ownership interests in the properties, but received substantially less economic benefit due to Simon Property's preferred capital allocation. With this transaction, Washington Prime will own 100 percent of four properties and approximately 88.3% of the remaining three for a purchase price of $162 million. The transaction also includes the assumption of an additional $83.8 million in mortgage debt.

The portfolio of properties totals over 2.1 million square feet and is approximately 96% occupied. Four of the centers are located in Florida, and one each in Indiana, Connecticut and Virginia. Also included in this transaction is land valued at approximately $4 million.