Rob Francour, portfolio director of commercial real estate acquisitions at Northwestern Mutual adds, “This joint venture with PECO creates an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of necessity-based retail real estate currently managed by one of the leading operators in the sector. We're confident these assets will produce consistent cash flow that complements our current commercial real estate portfolio.”

In addition, Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT III, Inc. (PECO III), which is currently sponsored and managed by PECO, has entered into a separate joint venture with Northwestern Mutual to create Grocery Retail Partners II. Under the terms of GRP II, Northwestern Mutual will acquire a 90% interest, valued at approximately $46.5 million, in three grocery-anchored shopping centers currently owned by PECO III across three states. PECO III will maintain a 10% ownership interest in the assets while PECO will continue to provide asset management and property management services.

The New York City office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. acted as exclusive financial advisor to PECO and its affiliate in facilitating the formation of the two joint venture partnerships.

The HFF equity placement team representing PECO and PECO III included senior managing directors Steve Hentschel and Danny Finkle and senior director Sheheryar Hafeez along with senior managing directors Michael Joseph and Doug Bond.

“The formation of the JVs between Northwestern Mutual, one of the country's largest and most experienced commercial real estate investors, and PECO reaffirms the high-quality nature of its grocery-anchored shopping center portfolio and validates the strength of PECO's best-in-class platform,” HFF's Hentschel says.