Who Owns Phillips Edison (PECO)?

Mike Phillips and Jeff Edison founded the company in Cincinnati in 1991, focused on a specific thesis: shopping centers anchored by leading grocery stores would outperform because necessity retail keeps drawing traffic regardless of economic conditions. The early business acquired and operated neighborhood centers in Midwest and Southeast markets.

From the late 1990s through the 2010s, the company raised capital through the non-traded REIT market, sponsoring Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I, II, and III. These public, non-listed funds sold shares to individual investors through broker-dealers, accumulating one of the largest grocery-anchored portfolios in the country.

The defining event came on July 15, 2021, when the company listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under ticker PECO. The listing converted the flagship non-traded vehicle into a public REIT, and industry observers noted the pricing came near the fund's own NAV estimate, an outcome that distinguished it from non-traded listings that debuted at steep discounts.

As a public company, PECO has grown through acquisitions of grocery-anchored centers and recycling of non-core assets. Revenue rose from $532.9 million in 2021 to $726.6 million in 2025, while net income reached $111.3 million in 2025, up from $62.7 million in 2024. Same-center NOI grew 3.8% to $454.7 million.

The portfolio now stands at 297 wholly owned centers totaling 33.5 million square feet across 31 states, plus 27 centers managed through institutional joint ventures and a private fund, for a managed footprint of 324 properties.