REIT Plans Larger Secondary Offering

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. said Thursday that it plans to sell 7 million shares, more than it announced the day before, and will use proceeds to reduce secured debt.

The Pasadena real estate investment trust, which specializes in life science industry facilities, originally announced after Wednesday’s market close that it planned to sell 4.5 million shares. But the company, which has 32.37 million shares outstanding, increased the size of the offering Thursday morning when announcing a share price of $38.25, which would raise more than $267 million before fees.

After lowering its unsecured credit line with part of the proceeds, Alexandria plans to borrow from the credit line to pay down $25 million of a senior secured term loan. The company also plans to use proceeds to acquire and develop properties.

The REIT owns 159 properties across the country with 11.7 million rentable square feet and properties in development totaling 875,000 rentable square feet.

The offering is expected to close on March 24, and Alexandria said it is giving underwriters a 30 day option to purchase up to 1.05 million additional shares to cover any over-allotments.

Alexandria shares were down $4.02, or 9.6 percent, to $37.75 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.