The centers are mostly located in the St. Louis area, and include the 116,692-sf Zumbehl Commons in St. Charles, MO; the 108,200-sf Wildwood Crossing in Wildwood, MO; the 209,703-sf Kirkwood Commons in Kirkwood, MO (anchored by Wal-Mart) and the 115,208-sf Bellerive Plaza in Creve Couer, MO. There are also a few properties included in Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee. The portfolio has averaged 97% leased during the past five years, says a spokeswoman with Regency.

The spokeswoman says this deal is just a continuation of a large, historical partnership with Macquarie. Regency is basically the Australian trust's agent, she says. "We have an established 150 shopping centers together, with a 75% Macquarie and 25% Regency split. We like the Schnucks portfolio because the company is the strongest grocer in St. Louis, with a market share of 37%, and they have good demographics," she tells GlobeSt.com.

Desco is the real estate arm of Schnucks, and an acronym of Donald E. Schnuck Co. President Mark Schnuck said in a statement Monday that the sale of a portion of the company's centers will add resources to the company's position in real estate development. "We are selling 2.8 million sf, but we have 3.3 million sf under development in our pipeline today, as well as 3.2 million sf of property that we are retaining," he said. Most of the 101 Schnucks supermarkets are in centers not owned by the family.

The deal is expected to close in August. Macquarie said in a statement Monday that it is investing about $260 million USD in the Desco purchase, its first entry into the St. Louis market, and is funding the acquisition with its own asset sale program of between $150 million and $300 million USD for 18 "non-core" properties.