Liberty Property Trust completes $1.4 billion acquisition of value fund

Liberty Property Trust on Wednesday completed a previously announced deal to acquire the operating partnership of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III for $1.47 billion.

The purchase includes a 231,852-square-foot Class A industrial building at 2601 Indian River Road in Chesapeake.  The property brings Liberty’s combined holdings in Hampton Roads and the Greater Richmond area to 5.5 million square feet.

“We are very pleased to add this building to our Hampton Roads portfolio as part of Liberty’s effort to expand our industrial presence nationwide,” Craig Cope, vice president and city manager, Liberty Property Trust, said in a statement.  “We can now offer property choices from coast-to-coast, allowing us to bring greater opportunity to our tenants and increasing our opportunities systematically.”

The overall transaction has increased Liberty’s national industrial platform by about 23 million square feet. It adds 177 properties in 24 new and existing Liberty industrial markets.  About 58 percent of the portfolio is located in existing Liberty industrial markets, including Chicago, South Florida, Houston, New Jersey, Maryland and Central Pennsylvania.

The remaining 10 million square feet are located in 10 markets in which Liberty does not currently have a presence, including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Southern California.

Liberty, a real estate investment trust based in Malvern, Pa., said in a press release that it funded the acquisition through a combination of sources including proceeds of $834.1 million from an offering of 24,150,000 common shares, proceeds from the offering of $450 million of 4.4 percent  senior notes due in 2024 and the assumption of $230 million in mortgage debt.

Cabot Properties is a private real estate investment firm based in Boston.