Michael Glimcher, chairman and CEO of Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE: GRT), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
In September, Washington Prime Group Inc. (NYSE: WPG) said it intended to buy Glimcher Realty in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $4.3 billion. The new company will be known as WP Glimcher (WPG). Michael Glimcher, who will be CEO of the new WP Glimcher (WPG), discussed the impetus behind the merger.
“I feel really good about the deal that I made for Glimcher shareholders. I feel equally excited about the new WPG and the opportunities ahead. It’s a terrific company with a great balance sheet, exciting assets, a deep management bench and opportunities galore,” Glimcher said.
Glimcher also offered a perspective on the value proposition that the new company will offer.
“At Glimcher, our team could take properties and make them better,” he noted. The plan at WPG, Glimcher said, will be to invest in and redevelop properties, bring in new tenants, “make them look better, make them stronger and move them up the food chain.”
Glimcher added that growing up in the retail business exposed him to a variety of asset types, such as open-air and enclosed malls. As a result, “I feel really comfortable with each type,” he said.
“Our job is to make what we have more valuable, and I feel really good about the opportunity here,” Glimcher added.
Looking ahead, Glimcher said he expects 2015 will be a transitional year when “we’re going to be bringing it all together” following the completion of the merger. By 2016, however, “we should really be off and running and acting like a fully independent company.”