Artis REIT and RFA Capital stockholders have approved the organizations’ proposed merger.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, RFA is slated to acquire Artis for an undisclosed price through a plan of arrangement. RFA will then change its full name to RFA Financial.

The deal still requires final court approval, along with customary regulatory approvals and a waiver of customary closing conditions.

Both organizations held their investor votes separately last Thursday. All securityholder approvals have now been obtained.

In addition, Ben Rodney, Samir Manji, Lis Wigmore, Steven Joyce, Mike Shaikh, Heather-Anne Irwin, Jacqueline Moss and Richard Bradlow were elected the the merged firm’s future board.

Pending the deal’s complettion, Rodney will serve as president and CEO, Manji will become executive chair, Jaclyn Koenig will take on CFO duties and Melody Lo will be chief operating officer. Rodney currently chairs Artis and serves as president of Toronto-based RFA. Manji is currently the Winnipeg-based REIT’s president and CEO, while Koenig is its CFO.

The stockholders’ approval came after proxy advisors Institutional Stakeholder Services and Glass Lewis supported the REIT’s proposed sale.

In addition, CIBC Capital Markets and Haywood Securities have supported the proposed take-private deal in fairness opinions provided to the REIT.

Artis owns properties across Canada and the U.S. Most of the REIT’s assets are located in Western Canada.

Artis previously said its board unanimously approved the planned all-stock transaction. The proposed deal has also received federal approval in accordance with the Competition Act.

If the transaction closes, Artis will be delisted from the TSX and become a subsidiary of RFA Financial. But current Artis unitholders will own most of the stock in the new firm.

Under the proposed deal, Artis unitholders will receive one common share of RFA Financial for each unit that they hold, representing 68% of the combined company.

The combined entity is slated to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and feature a Schedule I bank, RFA Bank of Canada, alongside RFA’s mortgage-origination platform. Artis’ commercial real estate portfolio will become part of the new platform, with proceeds from future asset sales expected to be redeployed into RFA’s higher-growth financial services businesses.

The proposed merger comes after Artis concluded a strategic review process that lasted more than a year and resulted in $1.1 billion in divestments for debt-reduction purposes. Artis and RFA plan to continue selling the REIT’s assets as part of a rationalization process and use the “substantial net proceeds” to support growth opportunities in RFA’s financial-services platform.

The organizations have said the planned capital investments would generate material higher returns at a faster rate than a standalone REIT could produce.

The proposed merger is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

Pictured: Calgary office building.

Photo: Artis REIT