Sandpiper Group has increased its ownership position in Artis to about 21.5% as the REIT’s merger with RFA Capital moves closer to completion.

Sandpiper, together with its joint actors, now owns and exercises control or direction over approximately 21 million units of Artis, which has about 96 million issued and outstanding units, according to Artis’ latest monthly cash distribution announcement dated Dec. 15, 2025. The increased stake reflects the acquisition of about 1.9 million units between Nov. 16, 2022, and Thursday, excluding blackout periods, through open-market purchases on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The aggregate consideration paid for the acquired units was approximately $14.7 million, or an average price of $7.64 per unit. Prior to these acquisitions, Sandpiper and its joint actors held 18,685,759 units, representing approximately 16.14% of Artis’ issued and outstanding units.

The units were acquired for investment purposes, said Sandpiper.

“As a significant long-term unitholder of Artis, we continue to believe in the strong, underlying value of Artis. More importantly, we believe the proposed merger with RFA Capital is extremely compelling,” said Samir Manji, CEO of Sandpiper.

Manji is also the Winnipeg-based REIT’s president and CEO. If the merger closes as expected, he will become the merged company’s executive chair.

He added that the combination would “transition a diversified REIT to a growth oriented, financial services platform” and described the opportunity to help scale a Schedule 1 bank in Canada as “unique and rare.”

Subject to existing voting support agreements, Sandpiper and its affiliates may increase or decrease their ownership in Artis securities from time to time, depending on market and other conditions.

Artis REIT and RFA stockholders previously approved the 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.

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