US Retail Partners LLC is a joint venture of the California PublicEmployees' Retirement System and National Retail Partners LLC.The purchase, initially announced last September, includes 63 propertiestotaling 6.6 million sf of supermarket-anchored shopping centers inMaryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Illinois and Wisconsin. Most of the properties are located inthe Washington, DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia andChicago metro areas.

"As a practical matter, in terms of merchants and leasing, the salemeans nothing because the entire management team will remain in place,"said First Washington Realty Trust chairman Stuart D. Halpert.

The sale involves a series of transactions, including the merger ofFirst Washington with an affiliate of US Retail Partners. When thedeal between First Washington and US Retail Partners was struck,First Washington officials expressed frustration that the company'sstock was not appreciating, and felt Wall Street undervalued the portfolio.

Halpert said the net proceeds from the sale, after the payment of debt,other liabilities and transaction expenses, will yield approximately $26per stock share. First Washington is publicly traded on the NYSE.Stockholders approved the sale on Jan. 31.

When the deal was initially announced, CalPERS investment committeechairman Michael Flaherman said the First Washington portfolio appealedto fund managers because it fits with CalPER's core real estatestrategic plan by strengthening its East Coast holdings withgrocery-anchored centers located in strong markets, enhancing the fund'scash flow. CalPERS is the largest US public pension fund, with assetstotaling more than $165 billion. The pension fund is headquartered inSacramento, CA.

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$800-Mil Sale of First Washington to CalPERS Nears Final Hurdle

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