Flush With Chinese Investment, EB Arrow Adds Capview Partners To Broaden Retail Footprint

EB Arrow has acquired Capview Partners, expanding its breadth in the national retail market in its first major business transaction since the investment of Beijing-based China Everbright in May.

Both companies are based in Dallas. EB Arrow, with a $1.5B portfolio of managed assets, focuses on revitalizing flagging retail properties. Those properties include The Hill in Dallas, as well as Paseo Colorado in Pasadena, California, and Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon.

Capview Partners focuses on single-tenant free-standing net-lease properties, such as the portfolio of Texas properties it purchased in 2016: Auto Zone, Dollar General and Tractor Supply. Capview's transactions total $768M.

"The acquisition of Capview Partners complements our overall offerings and adds additional expertise to our platform," EB Arrow CEO Todd Minnis said in a prepared statement. "With the reshaping of the retail landscape, our combined team has more breadth to uncover opportunities and create value for our investors."

Capview brings a portfolio of 115 properties across more than two dozen states. EB Arrow's announcement indicates the merged company intends to expand its net-lease assets properties. Capview's website announces "Same team. Same Expertise. Bigger Platform." 

The two companies will operate under the EB Arrow banner. EB Arrow, announced last month, is the result of EBA Investments' financial commitment to Dallas-based Arrow Retail. At the time, Minnis said it was not a purchase of assets; it was a commitment to expertise.

"There's a lot of complexity to our work," Minnis said. "If you buy, say, a mall, you have to understand it in terms of how you unwind leases, how you manage management, how you handle certain tenant rights. You have to know how to change and evolve these assets."

EBA Investments' commitment to EB Arrow's platform of services was a good way for parent company China Everbright, an investment bank, to position itself in the United States, and to be on the front end of retail market changes, Minnis said.

Everbright's investment has allowed EB Arrow to lean into market changes, Minnis said. EB Arrow has added eight new team members, including Nanaging Partner Stephen Satterfield. Satterfield was managing director at Cypress Acquisitions Partners Retail Fund and was managing director at Everbright Real Estate Fund.

"We can capitalize on what we view as significant change that is starting to occur in the retail market," Minnis said. "We think that retail is going to be a primary driver of that change because retail often occupies very strategic locations in communities."