[November 12, 2018]

Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT III and Northwestern Mutual Enter into Joint Venture

Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT III, Inc. ("PECO (News - Alert) III" or the "Company"), a real estate investment trust ("REIT") focused on acquiring and owning well-occupied grocery-anchored shopping centers, and Northwestern Mutual, one of the largest commercial real estate mortgage and equity investors in the nation, have entered into a joint venture to create Grocery Retail Partners II ("GRP II"). Northwestern Mutual will invest in three high-quality, grocery-anchored shopping centers currently owned by PECO III across three states.

Under the terms of GRP II, Northwestern Mutual will acquire a 90% interest in the three-center portfolio which is currently valued at $46.5 million. PECO III will maintain a 10% ownership in the portfolio while its sponsor and manager, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. ("PECO"), will provide asset management and property management services for the joint venture. PECO III intends to deploy the proceeds from GRP II to further expand its growing portfolio of grocery-anchored centers.

"Investing in grocery-anchored real estate alongside a well-respected institutional investor like Northwestern Mutual, which has over 150 years of commercial real estate experience, is a meaningful affirmation of the robust fundamentals in our sector," commented Jeff Edison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PECO III. "The capital provided by this joint venture gives us the ability to accelerate growth in our portfolio while we are still in the early stages of our development."

Rob Francour, portfolio director of commercial real estate acquisitions at Northwestern Mutual added: "The advantages of the PECO III joint venture are two-fold: first, we have the opportunity to invest in well-located grocery-anchored real estate, and second, we gain access to PECO's fully-integrated operating platform and their experienced management team. Together, we believe this venture will be mutually beneficial over the long-term."

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP ("HFF") acted as exclusive financial advisor to PECO III for the joint venture.

About Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT III, Inc.

Phillips Edison Grocer Center REIT III, Inc. is a public non-traded real estate investment trust that seeks to acquire and manage well-occupied grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping centers having a mix of national and regional retailers selling necessity-based goods and services, in strong demographic markets throughout the United States. The REIT is co-sponsored by Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and Griffin Capital Company, LLC.

About Griffin Capital Company, LLC

Griffin Capital Company, LLC ("Griffin Capital") is a leading alternative investment asset manager that owns, manages, sponsors or co/sponsors approximately $11.2 billion* in assets. Founded in 1995, the privately held firm is led by a seasoned team of senior executives with more than two decades of investment and real estate experience and who collectively have executed more than 650 transactions valued at over $22 billion.

The firm manages, sponsors or co-sponsors a suite of carefully curated, institutional quality investment solutions distributed by Griffin Capital Securities, LLC to retail investors through a community of partners, including independent and insurance broker-dealers, wirehouses, registered investment advisory firms and the financial advisors who work with these enterprises.

*Includes the property information related to interests held in certain joint ventures. As of September 30, 2018.

About Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual has been helping families and businesses achieve financial security for more than 160 years. Through a distinctive, whole-picture planning approach, we empower our clients to make the most of every single day and plan for important moments in their future. We combine the expertise of our financial professionals with a personalized digital experience to help our clients navigate their financial lives every day. With $265.0 billion in assets, $28.1 billion in revenues, and more than $1.8 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to more than 4.5 million people who rely on us for life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, brokerage and advisory services, trust services, and discretionary portfolio management solutions. The company manages more than $125 billion of client assets through its wealth management and investment services. Northwestern Mutual ranks 97 on the 2017 FORTUNE 500 and is recognized by FORTUNE® as one of the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies in 2018.

Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Northwestern Mutual and its subsidiaries offer a comprehensive approach to financial security solutions including: life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, annuities, life insurance with long-term care benefits, investment products, and advisory products and services. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC) (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long-Term Care Insurance Company (NLTC) (long-term care insurance).

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We intend for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "believe," "continue," or other similar words. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to: uncertainties relating to changes in general economic and real estate conditions; uncertainties relating to the implementation of our real estate investment strategy; uncertainties relating to financing availability and capital proceeds; uncertainties relating to the closing of property acquisitions; uncertainties relating to the public offering of our common stock; uncertainties related to the timing and availability of distributions; and other risk factors as outlined in the Company's prospectus, as amended from time to time. This is neither an offer nor a solicitation to purchase securities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181112005698/en/

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