Seritage Growth Properties to Review Strategic Alternatives
The REIT’s special committee is exploring several options including a sale and piecemeal disposition of its assets.
Seritage Growth Properties, a REIT that owns 170 residential, retail and mixed-use properties, is exploring its strategic alternatives. A source told Bloomberg News that this process could include a sale of the company or a piecemeal disposition of its assets.
The REIT acknowledged that there is an ongoing disconnect between the company’s stock price and net asset value.
The Special Committee formed to evaluate Seritage’s options has retained Barclays as its financial advisor. Seritage is in the early stages of the strategic review process and the company says it does not plan to disclose or comment on interim developments. It also said there can be no assurance that the review process will result in any transaction or any strategic change at this time.
Seritage’s portfolio generally falls into the categories of cash flowing multitenant retail and triple net pad sites, residential development land, and large mixed use master planned developments.
Opportunities ‘Extremely Strong,’ CEO Said
CEO Andrea Olshan noted in prepared remarks that the opportunities for these underlying assets are extremely strong, “and we believe that embarking on this process represents the most efficient way to unlock the full potential of this portfolio. We are committed to exploring a variety of opportunities to pull forward this value and deliver it to Seritage shareholders in the near-term.”
Olshan continued, “In the last year, we have been laser focused on executing our strategy to further enhance the value of Seritage’s assets by diversifying our tenant base with high-quality tech office, life sciences and medical tenants while improving rents and credit quality, pursuing densification opportunities and entitling properties for their highest and best use.
Additionally, David Fawer and Thomas Steinberg have informed Seritage that they do not intend to seek reelection to the Board at Seritage’s 2022 Annual Shareholder meeting in order to focus on other professional obligations. The board is conducting a search to identify additional board candidates.