Kimco Realty Announces Common Stock Offering
The Associated Press
04/02/09 - 05:02 PM EDT
NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. (AP) Shopping center owner Kimco Realty Corp. said Thursday it plans to issue 70 million shares of common stock in part to help repay debt.
Kimco said it will also have a 30-day option to buy an additional 10.5 million shares.
Kimco has been hit hard by the recession. The company reported a 92 percent plunge in fourth-quarter funds from operations, the key measurement of performance for real estate investment trusts.
Shopping mall owners nationwide are suffering as job losses and the recession have caused a sharp pullback in consumer spending. Analysts expect vacancies at retailers are likely to soar to levels last seen in the early 1990s.
The book-running managers for the new stock offering are Merrill Lynch & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities, and UBS Investment Bank.