LBA Properties Files for $378-Million IPO

LBA Properties, a Southern California owner and developer of office and industrial properties, filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of stock. The real estate investment trust will be formed from the holdings of several entities, including a partnership of Newport Beach-based Layton-Belling & Associates and Boston-based investment advisor Aldrich Eastman & Waltch. LBA estimates it can raise as much as $378.5 million in proceeds from the sale. Layton-Belling was formed in 1991 by two former Koll Co. executives, Phil A. Belling and Steven R. Layton, who will serve as chairman and president, respectively, of the new company. Since the firm teamed with its Boston financial partner in 1994, it has been on a buying spree, snapping up commercial properties across the Southland. When the offering closes, Newport Beach-based LBA will own 48 office, industrial and retail properties in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, the filing said. It will use the proceeds of the offering to pay down mortgage debt and finance more acquisitions, including the purchase of a four-building office complex in San Diego. For the six months ending June 30, LBA’s funds from operations, a key indicator of a real estate company’s health, grew to $1.8 million, compared with $1 million in the same period a year earlier.