Brookfield Asset Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board completed their take-private of LXP Industrial Trust, adding a $5.2 billion portfolio of big-box warehouses to one of the world’s largest logistics landlords at a time when U.S. industrial demand is firming again.
LXP shareholders received $61.20 a share in cash, and the real-estate investment trust’s stock no longer trades on the New York Stock Exchange, the buyers said Monday. The price values LXP at about $5.2 billion including net debt and preferred equity. The deal was first announced in July and included a 40-day window during which LXP could solicit a better offer; none emerged.
Modern warehouses, long leases
LXP owns 107 industrial properties covering about 52 million square feet, mostly newer bulk distribution buildings in Sunbelt and Midwest markets including Arizona, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The portfolio was about 96.6% leased earlier this year, with Amazon.com Inc. as its largest tenant at roughly 6.7% of space.
The properties will be merged into Brookfield’s global logistics platform, which spans more than 255 million square feet across more than 850 properties in 20 countries. Brookfield’s real-estate chief said the firm is buying modern assets at an attractive basis in markets with limited new supply, while CPP Investments said the deal gives its fund scaled exposure to U.S. logistics.
Timing the warehouse cycle
The purchase is a wager that the post-pandemic glut of new warehouse space has largely been absorbed. Third-quarter U.S. industrial absorption was the strongest since early 2023 and national vacancy fell to about 6.8%, according to brokerage data cited in industry coverage of the deal.
Citigroup and Morgan Stanley were lead financial advisers to the buyers, with Goldman Sachs, Santander and Scotiabank also advising and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as structuring adviser. BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan advised LXP.
