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Phillips Edison & Company Exploring Liquidity Options

Phillips Edison & Company Inc., an internally managed real estate investment trust focused on grocery-anchored shopping centers, reported that its board and management are reviewing alternatives to provide liquidity to the company's stockholders.

Phillips Edison & Company Inc., an internally managed real estate investment trust focused on grocery-anchored shopping centers, reported that its board and management are reviewing alternatives to provide liquidity to the company’s stockholders.

Although the company did not provide any specifics, liquidity alternatives could include the sale of the company’s assets or listing shares on a national securities exchange.

In connection with the review process, the board suspended the dividend reinvestment plan, beginning with the distribution paid on April 1, 2021. Stockholders will receive their full distribution in cash, which is currently equal to a monthly amount of $0.02833333 per share, or $0.34 per share annualized.

Additionally, the share repurchase program, which is currently limited to repurchases resulting from a shareholder’s death, qualifying disability, or the declaration of incompetence (DDI), has been suspended. The March 31, 2021 DDI repurchase will not be executed, and the share repurchase program will remain suspended until further notice, the company said.

Phillips Edison’s most recent net asset value per share was $8.75 as of March 31, 2020, compared to the prior year’s NAV per share of $11.10.

Previously, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the REIT suspended distributions and share repurchases after March 2020. However, monthly distributions were later reinstated beginning with the December 2020 distribution, while share repurchases for DDI were reinstated at $5.75 per share in January 2021.

A previously announced reverse stock split, which was expected to take place around March 9, 2021, where every four shares of issued common stock would automatically combine and convert into one share of common stock, has been delayed subject to market conditions, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Phillips Edison & Company Inc. (formerly known as Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I Inc.) is one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of grocery-anchored shopping centers and oversees a portfolio of 308 properties. The company’s offering was declared effective by the SEC in August 2010 and raised approximately $1.8 billion in investor equity before closing in February 2014.

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