Mills Acquiring 6 Retail Properties

The Mills Corp., Arlington, Va., is acquiring six retail properties in two different transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $621 million.In one transaction, the retail real estate investment trust is acquiring five mall properties from Cadillac Fairview. In the second, Mills is acquiring Riverside Square, a Hackensack, N.J., mall property, from an undisclosed seller. The properties add approximately 5.3 million square feet to the REIT's portfolio. Mills said it intends to finance the cash portion of the acquisition through a combination of debt and equity financing, including the assumption of existing debt of $62 million on one property and tapping additional mortgage debt of approximately $385 million on the other five properties. For the equity portion of the financing, Mills said it is contemplating several options, including a bridge loan from Deutsche Bank Securities and RBC Capital Markets for the entire balance; a commitment from the company’s private equity source for up to 50% of the balance; and using its $175 million revolving credit facility.