Cedar Realty Trust Exploring Sale, Strategic Alternatives

(Bloomberg) -- Cedar Realty Trust Inc., a retail-focused real estate investment trust, is exploring strategic alternatives including a full sale, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The Massapequa, New York-based company is also considering selling its portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers and its mixed-use redevelopment projects, as it looks for ways to maximize shareholder value, the person said. That portfolio may be able to obtain financing at a purchase price of $965 million, according to terms reviewed by Bloomberg News. 

A Cedar spokesman declined to comment. 

The REIT, led by Chief Executive Officer Bruce Schanzer, is working with advisers on its exploration of alternatives. It owns properties in Washington, D.C., and Boston, among other cities. 

The disconnect between valuations for real estate ascribed by private and public buyers is an area of focus for the REIT, Schanzer said on a recent earnings call, referencing “strength in the asset-sale market” and the firm’s $90 million sale of a shopping center in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He said in June that Cedar would “take further appropriate measures to exploit this dislocation if it persists.”

Cedar’s shares have more than tripled in the past 12 months, outperforming the Bloomberg U.S. Real Estate Large & Mid Cap Price Return Index. 

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