Kimco Realty, North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers, is looking to grow its portfolio.

The operator announced Monday plans to acquire RPT Realty, an owner and operator of a U.S. open-air shopping center, for roughly $2 billion in an all-stock transaction. The transaction, which is subject to RPT shareholder approval and closing conditions, is expected to close in early 2024.

“This transaction presents another exciting opportunity for our Company to deepen our presence in key Coastal and Sun Belt markets, while accelerating our growth at an attractive valuation,” Kimco CEO Conor Flynn said in the announcement. 

Flynn said that roughly 70% of RPT’s portfolio aligns with Kimco’s “key strategic markets” and noted that RPT’s substantial pipeline of signed but not-yet-open leases will help fuel more growth for the combined company. Nearly 90% of RPT’s assets that align with Kimco’s key target markets are grocery-anchored.

In particular, the companies spotlighted that Mary Brickell Village, a Publix-anchored mixed-use property in Miami that RPT bought from JLL last August for $216 million, offers “significant value creation potential.” 

The acquisition will add 56 open-air shopping centers, including 43 wholly-owned and 13 joint venture assets, to Kimco’s existing portfolio of 528 properties. Kimco will also acquire RPT’s 6% stake in a 49-property net lease joint venture.

When the deal closes, Kimco said it expects to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $13 billion and a total enterprise value of approximately $22 billion.

Kimco said it does not anticipate changes to its executive management team or board of directors with the acquisition and noted that RPT is expected to align the timing of its quarterly dividend payments to Kimco’s during the pendency of the acquisition.

Kimco has identified an unspecified number of Midwest properties within RPT’s portfolio that it plans to divest, per the announcement.