Last month, shareholders of the locally based Prime Retail approved the acquisition. The vote came at a special meeting, with 70% of Series A preferred stockholders, 79.6% of Series B preferred stockholders and 58.4% of common stockholders supporting the buyout.

Under the terms of the agreement for the acquisition, Prime Retail's Series A preferred stockholders will get $18.40 per share. Holders of Series B preferred stock will get $8.169 per share, and holders of Prime Retail common stock will get $0.17 per share.

The buyout of Prime Retail is part of an aggressive ongoing acquisition and expansion program on the part of Lightstone. Founded in 1988 and headed by president and CEO David W. Lichtenstein, Lightstone, based in Lakewood, NJ, owns and manages a diversified portfolio of 16,000 apartments, as well as office, industrial and retail properties. That portfolio currently totals more than 9.1 million sf of space in 18 states and Puerto Rico, according to Lichtenstein.

Prime Retail, meanwhile, presently owns and/or manages some 36 retail outlet centers totaling about 10.2 million sf of gross leasable area. The company, which also dates to 1988, owns about 154,000 sf of office space as well.