Colony Financial Inc., a Santa Monica real estate investment company, will seek to raise some $336 million via an offering of 15 million shares of common stock.

The offering is expected to close early next week.

The company made the announcement on Thursday. Colony Financial plans to use sales proceeds to retire debt and acquire new assets. The company also plans to offer nearly 2.3 million shares to its underwriters.

Colony Financial’s underwriters for the offering are BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities.

Colony Financial has an affiliate relationship with Colony Capital. Both firms are led by Thomas Barrack, who ranks No. 35 on the Business Journal’s list of Wealthiest Angelenos with estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.

Shares of Colony Financial lost 67 cents, about 3 percent, to close at $22.30 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.