Healthcare Trust of America is buying Duke Realty for $2.75 billion in a deal that the giant medical office property owner intends to finance with the proceeds of a secondary stock offering.

HTA, a leading real estate investment trust of healthcare properties, announced Monday that it will sell 39.5 million more shares of its equity in a secondary offering that allows the underwriters an option to purchase 5.9 million shares beyond that.

The proceeds will be used to purchase Duke Realty’s portfolio of 78 medical office buildings, most of which are located on or adjacent to an academic medical center, HTA said.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based HTA also announced that it is buying 11 medical office buildings in the southwest with proceeds from the equity offering.

Hospital systems encourage REITS to develop medical office buildings, sparing the systems the capital investment needed to bring physicians onto their campuses.

A year ago, Catholic Health Initiatives sold 52 of its medical office buildings for $725 million to reduce debt.

The purchase of Duke Realty is expected to close in several tranches over the second quarter and third quarter, the company said. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.

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Dave Barkholz is Modern Healthcare’s Southern Bureau Chief stationed in Nashville. He covers hospitals, doctors, suppliers and governance across the Southeast. A winner of numerous national journalism awards, Barkholz started his career at Modern Healthcare in 1984 covering the investor-owned hospital companies. He spent the past 10 years in Detroit at Automotive News, a sister Crain publication.

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