DDR maintains a 20% ownership interest in the centers and willcontinue to manage the assets. The shopping center owner and KuwaitFinancial, an investment management firm, first formed an alliancein May 2003. At that time, the two closed a $169 million jointventure deal.

This latest transaction reduces DDR's exposure togrocery-anchored centers, says Scott A. Wolstein, the company'schairman and CEO, in a statement. The firm prefers to operateopen-air centers that are market-dominant community shoppingcenters. DDR closed a similar deal that decreased itsgrocery-center ownership stake in last month, when it sold sharesof 12 properties to Prudential Real Estate Investors for $128million.

The centers in the Kuwait deal are mostly in New York State.They range in size from 62,747 sf to 278,241 sf and are anchored byKroger and Tops Markets stores.