Adia joins USD 2.34 bn takeover of US grocery-anchored REIT

Adia is getting a slice of a USD 2.34 bn US shopping center takeover. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) will invest as a strategic investor alongside private investment firm Everview Partners as Everview and NYSE-listed shopping center owner Brixmor Property Group acquire Slate Grocery REIT, according to a statement from the buyers. Adia’s investment size and stake were not disclosed.

What exactly is Adia buying into? Slate is a Toronto-listed REIT that owns grocery-anchored shopping centers across major US metro markets, and the acquisition will take it private and off the Toronto Stock Exchange. The buyers see room to squeeze more out of the portfolio: in-place rents across both portfolios average 32% below Brixmor’s existing portfolio, and Brixmor has identified around USD 100 mn of redevelopment and outparcel prospects across the 23 centers it’s buying directly. Everview is wagering that grocery-anchored, open-air retail will keep benefiting from limited new supply and durable tenant demand.

The breakdown: The transaction covers 115 grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling roughly 15 mn sq ft. Brixmor will buy 23 of them, mostly in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, for USD 636 mn. A new Brixmor-Everview JV will take the remaining 92 for USD 1.71 bn, with Everview holding 80% of the common equity and Brixmor 20%. Brixmor will also put about USD 174 mn of preferred equity into the JV and manage and lease the portfolio.

Slate holders get a cash exit: Unitholders will receive USD 13 per unit in cash, Slate said in a separate statement. That’s a roughly 20% premium to its closing price on 23 September, the last trading day before it suspended distributions, and 13% above its price before it launched a strategic review in May. The review was triggered by an unsolicited proposal from affiliates of Slate Asset Management, the REIT’s external manager and largest investor, and ended in a competitive auction. Slate Asset Management will receive a fixed USD 50 mn payment to end its management agreement when the transaction closes.

What’s next

The transaction is expected to close in 1Q 2027, subject to approval from Slate unitholders and the Ontario Superior Court. It isn’t subject to any financing conditions. Slate’s special committee and board have backed the acquisition, and Slate’s trustees and its manager, who together hold around 5.9% of outstanding units, have agreed to vote in favor.

ADVISORS- RBC Capital Markets is lead financial adviser to Brixmor and the buyer JV, with Wells Fargo Securities also advising. RBC and Wells Fargo are providing the acquisition’s financing. Evercore advised Slate’s independent special committee, while CIBC provided a separate fairness opinion.

Zoom out

Adia may be trimming property, but it hasn’t stopped shopping: The fund cut its real estate allocation range to 2-7% from 5-10% in 2025, but absolute exposure remained steady as other asset classes grew faster, as we reported earlier this month. It continued adding exposure to US senior housing and other targeted property strategies, while North America remained its largest geographic allocation at 45-60%.

It’s increasingly a game of rotation: Adia has been pruning mature direct holdings, including a potential exit from a decade-old Hong Kong hotel investment and earlier sales of UK and Chinese properties. Earlier this year, it also partnered with Ardian on a real estate secondaries platform. The Slate acquisition adds US grocery-anchored retail to that mix.