UPDATED: Toronto real estate investment firm Axia Real Assets LP has proposed an acquisition of Plaza Retail REIT (PLZ-UN-T), which values the Fredericton-based retail property owner and developer at $1.23 billion.

Announced Tuesday morning by Axia, the company said it submitted a non-binding offer to the board of Plaza on June 8.

The offer consists of a bid to acquire all the trust units of Plaza at $5.28 per unit, a 20.8 per cent premium to the 90-day volume-weighted average price on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) upon the close of trading on June 8.

The valuation of Plaza includes approximately $670 million of debt.

In a release, Axia said the proposed acquisition “remains compelling” as it would deliver a “significant premium and immediate liquidity” to unitholders and be a “superior alternative” to investing in a “small-cap, illiquid REIT that lacks the access to capital needed to grow its free cash flow and resulting distributions.”

Axia’s reasons for the acquisition

In the release, Axia laid out why it believes Plaza unitholders should back the acquisition. Axia said Plaza’s existing structure is struggling with:

• a portfolio that has fallen from 253 properties in 2022 to 190 today;
• unitholder distributions that have not increased since 2018, burdened by rising debt costs and no access to accretive capital;
• trading at a discount to sell-side net asset value since its start as a REIT; and
• being allegedly one of the most illiquid TSX-listed REITs with a market cap greater than $500 million, trading on average $212,000 worth of units on a daily basis over the last year.

Axia suggests the acquisition would provide immediate liquidity and certainty of value at a premium, and is a fully financed, all-cash offer not subject to any financing or due diligence conditions.

Additionally, Plaza’s largest unitholder, Morguard Corporation, has told both Plaza and Axia it supports the proposed transaction and is prepared to vote all of its units in favour of the deal. Morguard owns approximately 15.3 per cent of Plaza’s issued and outstanding units.

Axia first made an offer for Plaza in May 2024, the company said, and at the request of the Plaza board, submitted increased, fully financed offers that were at a premium to the then-trading price of the units.

However, Axia alleges after an offer was submitted on May 20, 2026 and Axia's June 8 market clearing offer of $5.28 per unit was given, Plaza’s board “has refused to meaningfully engage or provide any specific feedback.”

“Axia believes the REIT has had more than ample time to review and diligence the proposed transaction in accordance with its fiduciary duties and provide meaningful feedback,” it said.

Plaza calls proposed acquisition “unsolicited”

Plaza responded to Axia’s proposed acquisition in an afternoon press release. In it, Plaza called the move an “unsolicited proposal” and confirmed it received the bid. 

Plaza’s board formed a special committee of independent trustees to assess the proposal and potential strategic initiatives that would be in the best interests of the company and its unitholders, it said. 

No decision has been made regarding the proposed acquisition, Plaza added. 

About Axia Real Assets, Plaza Retail REIT

Founded in 2021 by Toronto-based CI Financial Corp. and four real estate executives, Axia is focused on investments in grocery-anchored real estate and last-mile industrial properties. It has deployed $300 million in capital since its founding.

In an interview with RENX, then-founding partner Josh Varghese said Axia was oriented around the “new economy” — sectors with strong potential for future growth and resiliency through economic cycles.

Plaza’s portfolio is centred around open-air centres and small box retail outlets, predominantly occupied by national tenants, with a strategy of development, redevelopment and value-add acquisitions. Its portfolio is focused on Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

As of Q4 2025, its portfolio measured approximately 8.8 million square feet. Some of the largest properties in its portfolio are The Village Shopping Centre in St. John's, Les Promenades du Cuivre in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., and Eastcourt Plaza in Cornwall, Ont.

For the 190 properties in its portfolio today, Plaza says there is 97.5 per cent occupancy. Plaza has 10 projects and 399,000 square feet under development, it said on its website.