The properties are 96% leased and have such tenants as Best Buy, OfficeMax, Marshalls and Wal-Mart as anchors. Casto will continue to lease and manage the assets.

Investcorp executives were interested in the deal because of Casto's expertise in Ohio markets, says Bradley Seiden, an Investcorp principal. "A lot of it is them," he says of the reasons his company got involved in the deal. "Casto is the preeminent, Midwest, Ohio-based retail owner."

Most of Casto's 82 centers are located in Ohio, though the company is also making a push in the Southeast. The firm last year entered the Carolinas and is building lifestyle centers in Florida. Seiden says that Investcorp will look to make future investments with Casto as it grows in other regions. "The intention is to do more than one transaction with these guys," he says.

In November Investcorp acquired two open-air centers--one in Florida and the other in New Jersey--for $115 million. Its best-known retail property is Desert Passage, a 447,000-sf mall in the Aladdin Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The company has acquired about $5 billion in real estate assets over the past decade.