A Jacksonville, Florida-based company that owns West Hartford’s Corbin’s Corner is set to acquire a Greenwich company that owns more than a dozen shopping centers in Connecticut, mostly in Fairfield County and in shoreline towns.
In an all-stock transaction valued at about $1.4 billion, Regency Centers will acquire Urstadt Biddle, which owns the 350,000-square-foot Ridgeway Shopping Center in Stamford along with Shelton Square, New Milford Plaza and Danbury Square, a retail plaza near the Danbury Fair Mall, the companies announced.
Urstadt Biddle owns smaller shopping centers in Ridgefield, Orange, Wilton, Cos Cob, Derby, Bethel, Darien, Westport and Stratford.
The new properties add to Regency Centers’ existing portfolio in Connecticut, which includes Brookside Plaza in Enfield, Southbury Green, Danbury Green, Copps Hill Plaza in Ridgefield, Black Rock Shopping Center and Fairfield Center in Fairfield, Compo Acres Shopping Center in Westport, Post Road Plaza in Darien and Walmart at Norwalk.
Regency Centers recently upgraded the Corbins Corner shopping center on New Britain Avenue, including the addition of 2,500 square feet of storage space to the rear of Trader Joe’s existing 10,000-square-foot space.
Regency Centers and Urstadt Biddle both operate nationally and are publicly traded. Regency Centers is traded on the Nasdaq and Urstadt Biddle on the New York Stock Exchange.
Under the terms of the agreement, Urstadt Biddle’s stockholders will receive about $20.40 per share based on Regency’s closing share price last Wednesday.
After the deal closes, Regency and Urstadt Biddle shareholders will own about 93% and 7% of the combined company, respectively. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction.
“The portfolio that Urstadt Biddle has carefully assembled over more than 50 years offers a highly aligned demographic and merchandising profile to Regency,” said Lisa Palmer, president and CEO of Regency. “Both companies have a successful track record of owning and operating best-in-class grocery-anchored neighborhood and community centers in premier suburban trade areas, and we look forward to the synergies and growth opportunities that this transaction will offer to the combined shareholder base.”
The companies’ combined portfolio includes 481 total properties spanning more than 56 million square feet of gross leasable area.
The transaction is expected to close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2023. There are no anticipated changes to Regency’s executive management team or board of directors, according to the announcement.
