Kimco Realty Announces Common Stock Offering

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.