First Industrial Stock Offering to Net $100M

CHICAGO-First Industrial Realty Trust will net proceeds of $100 million from its offering of 8.9 million shares of common stock. The company, which priced the shares at $11.40, plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include repayments or repurchases of debt, according to its public filings. The shares were offered under the company's existing shelf registration statement, with UBS Securities LLC acting as the sole book-running manager for the common stock offering.

First Industrial president and CEO Bruce Duncan recently commented on the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2010 results in a conference call with financial analysts.

He said the company―which owns, manages and has under development 74 million square feet of industrial space―has enjoyed "the benefit of the improving economy and stabilizing industrial fundamentals."

Duncan noted that the REIT delivered a 140 basis-points increase in occupancy in the fourth quarter, growing its portfolio occupancy to 85%. "This was our third consecutive quarter gain. During this three-quarter period, we improved occupancy by 360 basis points," Duncan said in the call.

Demand was broad-based as tenants to "continue to actively seek industrial space," the First Industrial CEO said. He noted that new demand is coming from businesses of all sizes and across all property types.

Active industries include third-party logistics firms, consumer products and food-related companies as well as the aerospace, medical equipments, another specialty manufacturers. Duncan noted that the overall national industrial market improved 30 basis points to 85.7% at the end of the fourth quarter, according to CB Richard Ellis Econometric Advisors, after growing just 10 basis points in the third quarter, following 11 quarters of occupancy declines.