Tampa real estate trust Sila wins bid for NYSE listing

Tampa based Sila Realty Trust has won approval to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The REIT announced the decision Wednesday saying that it would begin trading on the exchange June 13 under the ticker symbol SILA. As is customary, the company’s management and board of directors will ring the opening bell that day.

“This is a significant milestone in our company’s history, as we believe the listing will introduce Sila to a large and diverse group of investors, offering access to scale capital, while also providing liquidity optionality for our current shareholders,” Sila’s president and CEO Michael A. Seton says in a note to investors.

Sila announced in April that its board of directors had voted to begin the process for joining one of the world’s preeminent exchanges, a move that elevates its respectability and puts it in the company of some of the largest public businesses and best-known brands.

The company says that as part of the process, it will begin a $50 million “Dutch auction” on the same day as the listing.

According to the finance website Investopedia, the term “Dutch auction” in financial markets refers to “when investors place bids for a security offering, specifying what they are willing to buy in terms of quantity and price. The price of the offering is then determined after taking in all bids to arrive at the highest price at which the total offering can be sold.”

Since selling 29 data centers for $1.32 billion in 2021, Sila has shifted its focus to the health care market buying about a half dozen facilities in the past year.

Just last week it announced it had bought a 30,000-square-foot Pennsylvania outpatient medical building for $10.5 million. Other buys this year include a five-building hospital portfolio with properties in Texas and Arizona for $85.5 million; and an Indiana inpatient rehabilitation facility for $39 million.

As of March 31, it owns more than 136 properties and two undeveloped parcels in 64 U.S. markets.

According to its first-quarter earnings report released earlier this month, its net operating income was up 8% to $39.8 million when compared to the same period last year.