Major Connecticut commercial landlord Griffin Industrial Realty Inc. has completed its first equity capital raise in its more than two-decade history, raising approximately $27.2 million, officials say.
The New York-based landlord-developer, which has major operations in Connecticut, this week announced it completed a private placement transaction with an investment group managed by Cambiar Management LLC. The effort helped Griffin raise $27.2 million of new capital.
As part of the transaction, a representative from Cambiar will be added to Griffin’s board of directors.
The proceeds will be used to fund Griffin’s acquisition and development pipeline in addition to general working capital, officials said.
“The logistics sector continues to experience strong industry tailwinds due to the growth in e-commerce, optimization of supply chains and increased need for buffer inventories and redundancies,” Griffin CEO and President Michael Gamzon said in a statement. “We are excited to accelerate our proven acquisition strategy and leverage our existing operating platform and development pipeline as we increase the size of our portfolio.”
[Read more: COVID-19 stalls landlord Griffin’s CT property sale effort]
In March, Griffin announced it plans to convert to a REIT in early 2021 for federal tax purposes to maximize shareholder value and generate growth opportunities as it continues to expand its industrial/warehouse property portfolio in select markets.
According to its website, Griffin’s portfolio includes numerous properties in Bloomfield, Windsor and East Granby.
In total, Griffin says it currently owns 42 buildings totaling approximately 4.6 million square feet (approximately 4.2 million of which is industrial/warehouse space) in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida. It also owns more than 3,400 acres of undeveloped land.
