Pan Pacific Retail, Western Properties Trust Set Merger Vote for November

EMERYVILLE, CA-Shareholders of Western Properties Trust and Pan Pacific Retail Properties will vote next month on the merger of the two companies. Under the terms announced in August, each Western share would be exchanged for 0.62 shares of Pan Pacific.

Emeryville-based Western is bringing 62 properties totaling more than 5.5 million sf to the table. If the merger is approved at the Nov. 9 meeting, the Pan Pacific name would survive and have nearly 14.6 million sf of retail and community shopping center space under its belt.

In the first half of the year, Western’s net income rose 15% to $9.2 million. Over the last year, shares in Western Property Trust have been on a steady climb, finishing up 17.5% over the last 52 weeks. With a market cap of $211.4 million, Western Properties Trust has 17.3 million shares outstanding.

Pan Pacific Retail Properties of Vista, CA, is also on the upswing. The company’s stock is up 13% over the last year, and revenues rose in the first half of this year by 13%. The merger would make Pan Pacific the largest West Coast shopping center REIT, with a combined market cap of $1.3 billion.