Company News

CVS

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) plans to close about 900 stores over the next three years, or about 300 stores a year, starting in the spring of 2022. The pharmacy retailer says the decision to close its stores was in order to focus more on its digital strategy. The store closures equal about 9 percent of the approximately 10,000 locations that the retailer currently operates. CVS says it will help those who lose their jobs as a result of the store closures to find a different role at another one of the retailer’s locations, according to CNBC. As part of the plan to close many of its stores, CVS Health will create new store formats. The retailer released three models for its new store layouts including sites dedicated to offering primary care services; an enhanced version of HealthHub locations with products and services designed for everyday health and wellness needs; and traditional CVS pharmacy stores that provide prescription services and health, wellness, personal care and other retail offerings. CVS Health plans to build 1,000 HealthHub locations by the end of the year, CNBC reports. This model includes a wider range of medical products and medical services from …

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Canoe-Ridge

NEW YORK CITY — Private equity firm Sycamore Partners Management has acquired Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for $1.2 billion. The transaction is the largest private equity purchase of a wine business in the U.S., according to Bank of the West, which led financing for the acquisition. Altria Group Inc. was the seller, according to reports by Bloomberg. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is the third-largest premium winery in the U.S. with over 30,000 acres of vineyards spread across three states. Some of the company’s popular brands include Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Patz & Hall, Northstar, Erath and Stags Leap. Chateau Ste. Michelle is one of the largest brands in the Pacific Northwest, located roughly 18 miles northeast of Seattle in Woodinville, Wash. The winery — which produces 60 percent of Washington’s annual wine sales — also owns 3,900 acres of vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Eastern Washington, including Canoe Ridge Estate and Cold Creek. New York City-based Sycamore Partners specializes in consumer, distribution and retail-related investments. The firm has approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital. Bank of the West, headquartered in San Francisco, is one of the largest commercial lenders to the wine industry in the U.S.  —Katie Sloan 

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The editors of REBusinessOnline.com are conducting a brief online survey to gauge market conditions in 2022, and we welcome your participation. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. Questions range from property sectors that you are most bullish on heading into 2022 to trends in deal volume to your outlook for interest rates. The results of our 11th annual survey will be collated and published in the January issues of our regional magazines. Conducting these surveys is part of our mission at France Media to provide readers with indispensable information, and we couldn’t do it without your help. To participate in our broker/agent survey, click here. To participate in our developer/owner/manager survey, click here. To participate in our lender/financial intermediary survey, click here. (Note: Please remember to click on “done” to properly submit the survey.)

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BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Bentonville-based Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) posted growth in earnings during its fiscal third quarter of 2021, which ended Oct. 31. Walmart’s total revenue was $140.5 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent from a year earlier when it was $134.7 billion. These numbers were also higher than Wall Street’s predictions of $135.6 billion, according to CNBC. According to Refinitiv, the discount retailer’s earnings per share were $1.45 adjusted versus $1.40 expected. Additionally, Walmart’s e-commerce sales increased 8 percent during the fiscal third quarter and 87 percent over a two-year period. Walmart raised its forecast for the rest of the year, believing it will continue to see growth. Based on full-year guidance, now the retailer expects its adjusted earnings per share will be approximately $6.40 versus its previous projection of between $6.20 and $6.35. To prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season, Walmart boosted its inventory by 11.5 percent. More customers shopped at Walmart during the third quarter due to the retailer’s low prices and amid an inflationary period that is causing household items to rise in price, according to CNBC. Despite the growth in revenue, Walmart’s net income decreased to $3.11 billion, or $1.11 per share. A year prior, …

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SAN DIEGO AND BALTIMORE — Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) has completed the spin-off of substantially all of its office assets into Orion Office REIT Inc. (NYSE: ONL), a new, independent, publicly traded REIT. Orion Office REIT specializes in the ownership, acquisition and management of a diversified portfolio of mission-critical and corporate headquarters office buildings in high-quality suburban markets across the United States. The portfolio is leased primarily on a single-tenant, net-lease basis to creditworthy tenants. Under the terms of the spin-off, Realty Income stockholders received one share of Orion common stock for every 10 shares of Realty Income common stock held as of the record date of Nov. 2, 2021. Wells Fargo Securities served as lead financial advisor, Moelis & Co. served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to Realty Income in connection with the spin-off. Realty Income is based in San Diego, while the spin-off, according to SEC filings, is based in Baltimore.

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DALLAS AND DENVER — In two separate transactions exceeding $25 billion in value, data center REITs CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) and CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR) have agreed to be acquired. KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) are teaming up to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock for CyrusOne at $90.50 per share for a deal value of approximately $15 billion, including the assumption of debt. In the other mega transaction, telecommunications firm American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) has agreed to acquire Denver-based CoreSite for $170 per share in cash. The total consideration for the transaction is approximately $10.1 billion, including the assumption and/or repayment of CoreSite’s existing debt at closing. The purchase price for CyrusOne, a Dallas-based company that owns and operates 50 data centers worldwide, reflects an approximately 25 percent premium over CyrusOne’s stock price on Sept. 27, which was the last day of trading before market speculation of a potential sale was published. KKR and GIP plan to grow CyrusOne’s global footprint of data centers following the closing of the acquisition. The company’s provides IT infrastructure for more than 1,000 clients, including 200 Fortune 1000 companies, according to CyrusOne. The transaction, which CyrusOne’s board of directors …

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Monmouth

NEWTON, MASS. AND HOLMDEL, N.J. — Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (ILPT) has agreed to acquire all the outstanding shares of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (NYSE: MNR) for $21 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4 billion. The agreement includes the acquisition of $409 million of debt and all of Monmouth’s industrial properties. The transaction is slated to close in the beginning of 2022. Under the agreement, ILPT will add Monmouth’s 126 Class A, single-tenant industrial properties totaling more than 26 million square feet to its portfolio. The Monmouth assets have an average remaining lease term of approximately eight years. The portfolio is over 80 percent leased to tenants that generate yearly rental revenue of $169.4 million. ILPT cites geographic diversity and tenant diversity as benefits of the acquisition. Also, the merger will allow ILPT to improve its tenant base with renters such as Home Depot, Mercedes Benz and Ulta. “This accretive transaction more than doubles the properties in ILPT’s mainland portfolio and this scale is expected to expand ILPT’s growth opportunities and access to capital, which we expect will drive cash flow growth and long-term value for our shareholders,” says John Murray, chief executive officer of …

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MENLO PARK, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — BowX Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BOWX), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) has completed its purchase of WeWork and will take the company public with an initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday, Oct. 21. Silicon Valley-based BowX originally announced its plan to acquire WeWork, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “WE” in March of this year in a deal that was then valued at $9 billion. “With a strong leadership team in place and new platform offerings that will leverage WeWork’s decade of expertise and proprietary technology, we can’t imagine a business better equipped to lead continued growth in the flexible space market,” said Vivek Ranadive, the CEO and chairman of BowX Acquisition Corp. who also owns the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. “While the pandemic has created many uncertainties, flexibility is here to stay and WeWork has the space and technology to power this global shift.” WeWork opened its first concept more than a decade ago in New York City, where the pioneering coworking office firm is also headquartered, and first announced its intent to go public in August 2019. Subsequent investigation into the company’s financials revealed …

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Greystone

NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) and Greystone have announced a strategic joint venture to deliver advisory services and capital solutions to existing, joint and new clients of both firms nationwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Cushman & Wakefield will make a strategic investment of $500 million to acquire a 40 percent stake in Greystone’s agency, HUD and servicing businesses. Greystone intends to use the capital to create new product offerings. The joint venture transaction is slated to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Greystone is a multifamily lender focused on bridge, Fannie Mae DUS, Freddie Mac Optigo and HUD loans. The joint venture will allow Cushman & Wakefield to access a broader range of debt products for property acquisition, refinancing, rehabilitation and new construction. “We’re excited to offer a new integrated capability to our investor clients with more direct access to Greystone’s balance sheet and capital solutions, including debt financing with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD,” says Andrew McDonald, Cushman & Wakefield’s chief executive, Americas. This investment expands Cushman & Wakefield’s presence in the multifamily sector. In early 2020, the firm acquired Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC, the …

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AUSTIN, TEXAS — Tesla (NYSE: TSLA) will relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, CEO Elon Musk announced at a company shareholder meeting on Thursday night. Information on where the company’s new headquarters office will be located and when the move will commence was not immediately available. The electric vehicle manufacturer announced in July 2020 that it had selected a development site near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for its $1 billion Gigafactory. Vehicle production at the Gigafactory, which will span more than 2,500 acres and employ some 7,000 people, is expected to begin in 2022. Musk’s other signature company, SpaceX, operates a rocket production facility and test site near the South Texas city of Brownsville. In explaining the move, Musk cited rising home prices and lengthy commute times for employees as primary deterrents to the company continuing to operate out of the Silicon Valley. Tesla joins Oracle and Digital Realty Trust as one of the latest major tech firms to announce a relocation from the Bay Area to the Texas state capital. The stock price of Tesla, which was founded in 2003, opened at $785.46 per share on Friday, Oct. 8, following the breaking of the news. The company’s …

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