Archive for April 3rd, 2008
by David Bodamer April 3rd, 2008
Our sister publication NREI looks at the prospects of sovereign wealth funds investing in commercial real estate.
Guy Langford, an accounting principal with Deloitte’s mergers and acquisitions services practice, noted that the assets managed by these funds have the potential to skyrocket to $12 trillion by 2016, up from $3 trillion currently. Compared with other investment sources, the current asset base of sovereign wealth funds represent more than that of both the hedge fund sector — which manages $1.5 trillion in assets — and the private equity sector — which has $700 billion in assets under management.
In recent years, sovereign wealth funds have increased investment activity, Langford said, going from about six deals in 2003 to about 70 deals in 2007. This represents a “significant swelling in activity.” Over the last two years, these funds have placed $35 billion into financial services.
More sovereign wealth funds are interested in real estate investments, he said, with 19 on a list of 24 invested in real estate. While “it’s clear that there is a substantial allocation to real estate” due to transparency issues, it is not clear exactly what their allocation to real estate is, according to Langford. Deloitte estimates that Temasek, the Singapore fund, has a 10% real estate allocation, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has an 8% allocation.
Related Topics: International, Investment, News, Retail Real Estate, Trends |
by David Bodamer April 3rd, 2008
Centro Properties Group took the unusual step of asking that trading on its shares be halted after they surged 120 percent on rumors about Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Finance, International, Investment, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer April 3rd, 2008
It seems an activist fund is making some headway at Dillard’s. It owns just more than 5 percent of Dillard’s shares. Now it’s getting some board seats. Could this mean a sale of the company is brewing? If so, who’d be the buyer?
New York-based Barington Capital Group LP and its affiliate, Clinton Group Inc., own 5.4 percent of Dillard’s shares. The hedge funds have demanded a look at Dillard’s books and nominated four people for seats on Dillard’s board, including Barington chief James Mitarotonda.
On Tuesday after the bell, Dillard’s issued a news release saying it will nominate one director favored by Barington and that the sides reached an agreement on the three other seats. The release said the agreement was reached in conjunction with Southeastern Asset Management.
Former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive Nick White was among Dillard’s original nominees. The other nominees are James A. Haslam III, chief executive of Pilot Travel Centers LLC; R. Brad Martin, former chairman and chief executive of Saks Inc.; and Frank R. Mori, co-chief executive and President of Takihyo Inc.
The release said Barington and Clinton would vote for the company’s nominees.
‘We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Barington and Clinton. Both the board and management welcome the perspectives and insights of our proposed new directors,’ said William Dillard II, the retailer’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.
The four seats on the 12-member board were the only ones that Barington or other outside investors could influence. Members of the Dillard family control the majority of the company’s Class B stock, which gives them two-thirds voting power for seats on the 12-member board.
Link.
Related Topics: Investment, News, Retail |
by David Bodamer April 3rd, 2008
CoStar has up a comprehensive round-up on the state of shopping center development. The company found that 25 million square feet of new centers came online during the quarter–about the same as last year. It’s a tiny bit alarming that a wave of new space debuted into a market where tenants are pulling back and slowing new store openings. The company also notes that space will continue to come online during the rest of the year.
On the positive side, CoStar reports just 6 million square feet of new starts. Overall, both numbers confirm something we’ve been hearing anecdotally for months. Projects that were in the pipeline before the economy soured are opening as scheduled. Developers don’t pull the plug once construction has started. But if you hadn’t started building anything, you likely have postponed the project.
Here’s a copy of the chart they ran. (Click to make it larger.)
Here’s a link to the full report.
Related Topics: Development, News, Research, Retail Real Estate, Trends |
by David Bodamer April 3rd, 2008
Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren took a $2.5 million cut in his cash payout in 2007, having collected no bonus in a year when profit and sales both declined. But he did get a bump in salary and almost $700,000 in additional stock incentives for a total payout of $14.4 million.
That compares with a pay package of $16.3 million for Lundgren in 2006, when Cincinnati-based Macy’s (NYSE: M) consolidation of its May Department Stores Co. acquisition was in full swing. For 2007, Lundgren collected a higher salary of $1.5 million – reflecting a new employment agreement – plus $291,000 in other compensation, such as $96,000 for aircraft use by him and his family, $87,000 for auto use and $86,000 for company merchandise discounts and related tax gross-ups, according to the company’s proxy report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Link.
Related Topics: News, Retail |
![CoStar Chart](javascript:pop_me_up("http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/costar.jpg" , "CoStar Chart", "width=640,height=480,scrollbar=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes"))