Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE:KIM), a real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently formed a joint venture with BIG Shopping Centers, an Israeli publicly traded company, to acquire high-quality neighborhood and community shopping centers throughout the U.S.

Kimco would have the controlling stake in the joint venture with 50.1% ownership interests, while BIG would have a 49.9% ownership stake. Consequently, Kimco would perform as the operating partner of the joint-venture and would earn asset management, property management and other customary fees.

As an initial investment, Kimco has contributed two retail properties in California worth $68.8 million to the joint venture. Both the properties were acquired during the fourth quarter of 2009. The portfolio, spanning across 343,000 square feet of space, has The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ:PETM) and Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) as tenant anchors. Moving ahead, Kimco intends to further consolidate the joint venture through the acquisition of additional retail properties across the country.

Together with its subsidiaries, Kimco is the largest publicly traded owner and operator of neighborhood and community shopping centers in the U.S., with interests in 1,471 properties spanning 151 million square feet of space in 45 states across the country, along with Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Peru. The company also operates complementary businesses that include merchant buildings, private preferred equity and real estate capital and advisory services.
 

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