There remain those who believe profitable deals can be done in the retail sector, such as Florida-based private equity firm Sterling Organization, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to Sterling CEO Brian Kosoy, the company is about to close on a new $500M fund to buy retail assets. The new fund will seek annual returns in the mid-to-upper teens by acquiring less-stable assets that require more active management.
Sterling has been an active buyer and renovator in the retail space even as the headlines continue to deliver news of retail closures and the deleterious impact of e-commerce on brick-and-mortar assets.
This month, Sterling inked a deal to buy a two-property, grocery-anchored portfolio of shopping centers totaling 305K SF in the Twin Cities market. The $41.7M purchase was through Sterling’s institutional grocery-anchored shopping center core fund, Sterling United Properties.
Central Commercial Group 