REIT Bond Deals Spur Hopes Of Welcoming Debt Market

Wall Street is crossing its fingers that a smattering of unsecured bond deals totaling $1.25 billion by real-estate investment trusts is proof that debt markets have reopened for the capital-starved industry.

The nation's largest mall owner, Simon Property Group (SPG), on Thursday priced a $500 million reopening of its 6.75% May 2014 note, while Duke Realty Corp. (DRE) offered $500 million of 10-year and five and a half-year debt. The deals come a day after office landlord Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (CLI) priced $250 million of unsecured 10-year notes.

The deals are feeding hope that other debt-laden REITs with looming debt maturities will follow suit as refinancing efforts remain challenging as the credit crunch continues.

"Unsecured markets haven't been viewed as an attractive source of funding for many REITs because of high rates," said John Perry, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, noting many companies had received price indications of 9% to 10% on potential deals earlier in the year. He noted that Mack-Cali's offering achieved a lower rate than previously available to most REITS.

Mack-Cali priced its 7.75% of senior unsecured notes due in 2019 to yield 7.875% to maturity.

Many REITs traded higher this session as the deals were seen as a positive harbinger for more debt issuance to come down the pike. For instance, Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (DDR) closed Thursday trading up nearly 12% to $7.77 while ProLogis (PLD) rose 1.8% to $10.16 after rising more than 8% in earlier trading.

Among the issuers, Duke Realty ended the day up 8.6% to $11.47 as Mack-Cali lost 1.6% to $31.37 and Simon Property fell 9 cents to $62.90.

"If debt for the real estate world opens up, watch out. The commercial real estate market is going to take off," said Rich Moore, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "The real issue has not been (their) operations," but because they can't get debt.

REITs have been hammered on concerns about the financial services industry as well as the commercial real estate malaise, as the credit crunch made it difficult to refinance coming debt maturities. Since March, the industry's saving grace has been massive amounts of equity issuance allowing REITs more flexibility to reduce debt. REITs executed over 50 common stock offerings during the first half of the year, raising roughly $15 billion in capital, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Ki Bin Kim, an analyst at Macquarie Research, says the recent debt issuance justifies the share rallies.

"It's similar to when the REITs started issuing equity. When one does it, the others follow suit," he said. "It seems like there's pent-up demand" for this type of debt.

-By A.D. Pruitt, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2197, [e-mail]

(Katherine Wegert contributed to this report.)