(Reuters) - Phillips Edison & Co Inc's shares opened flat at $28 in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, giving the owner and operator of omnichannel shopping centers a valuation of more than $3 billion. The real estate investment trust (REIT) on Wednesday raised $476 million through the sale of 17 million shares in its initial price offering, in which it had aimed to sell the stock between $28 and $31 each.
The listing comes at a time when brick-and-mortar retailers are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could in turn weigh on REITs like Phillips Edison.
The company's portfolio is chiefly focused on grocers who use an omnichannel sales approach that seeks to offer customers a uniform experience, whether they are shopping online or at physical stores.
Phillips Edison, which was founded in 1991 and purchased its first shopping center in Virginia a year later, currently counts Trader Joe's, Kroger (NYSE:KR) Co, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc, Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) and Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) among its more than 5,000 tenants.
The REIT was born in its present form after Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I Inc acquired Phillips Edison Limited Partnership's real estate assets and asset management business in 2017.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan are the lead joint book-running managers for the offering.