Pan Pacific Buying Center Trust

Pan Pacific Retail Properties, a San Diego-based retail real estate investment trust, is acquiring Center Trust, another California retail REIT, in a transaction valued at $600 million (including the assumption of debt and transaction costs).Each Center Trust share will be exchanged for 0.218 of a share in Pan Pacific. The transaction is expected to bring Pan Pacific's holdings to 138 shopping centers across the West Coast, encompassing 19.4 million square feet, the REIT said. "Pan Pacific will now be the only public shopping center REIT focused exclusively on the West Coast and will be uniquely positioned to continue sourcing attractive opportunities, generating consistent growth, and increasing stockholder value," said Stuart Tanz, Pan Pacific's president and chief executive officer. Pan Pacific is assuming approximately $136 million of Center Trust's secured debt and is planning to retire approximately $228 million of Center Trust's secured debt after the closing by issuing new debt and selling assets.