Shopping Center REIT Raises $825 Million in IPO

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Brixmor Property Group Inc., the retail property arm from Blackstone Group, raised $825 million in the company's initial public offering.

The IPO was the largest for a retail REIT since 1993, when Simon Property Group Inc, the world's largest shopping mall owner, raised $840 million, according to Bloomberg. 

Brixmor, the second-largest U.S. shopping center owner, will use the money raised to repay debt, according to a regulatory filing by the New York-based REIT.

The REIT sold 41.25 million shares for $20 each and gained 3.3 percent to $20.66 as of this morning, according to Bloomberg. 

The property company is one of many IPOs expected from the property giant Blackstone Group. Blackstone has filed for IPOs for U.S. hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Inc and hotel chain Extended Stay America Inc.. 

The Brixmor opening is "a good outcome for Blackstone," Cedrik Lachance, managing director at Green Street Advisors Inc., a real estate research firm, told Bloomberg. "The upsize is good news as it gives the company a little more money" to pay down debt. 

Brixmor owns 521 shopping centers across the U.S. It is the second-largest U.S. real estate IPO this year, helping property company offerings in 2013 reach an eight-year high. 

Before Brixmor, property IPOs raised $3.9 billion this year, compared to $3 billion in 2012, according to Bloomberg. In 2004, the total was $7 billion, with 29 property companies going public.