Honolulu real-estate investor Jay Shidler today completed a planned merger that forms a publicly traded real-estate investment trust involving nine Honolulu and Mainland office building assets contributed by The Shidler Group.

The new company, Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc., began trading on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol PCE.

Pacific Office Properties is the result of a merger with Arizona Land Income Corp., an Arizona-based firm whose stock was traded under the symbol AZL but was liquidating its mortgage loan portfolio and land holdings in the Phoenix area.

The merger was announced in January and previously received approval from Arizona Land shareholders.

In its first day of trading, Pacific Office Properties stock closed down 18 cents to $6.67. Over the last year, Arizona Land stock averaged about $7 a share.

Pacific Office Properties said the company will have an initial market capitalization of more than $750 million, assuming that all Shidler operating partnership units are converted to common stock. Previously, Arizona Land had a market share of about $12 million based on about 2 million shares outstanding at about $7 a share.

Shidler, who is Pacific Office Properties chairman, will own common stock and convertible partnership interests equal to about 35 percent of the company's equity.

A Shidler Group affiliate will manage Pacific Office Properties.

The company's initial portfolio consists of nine properties comprising 2.4 million square feet of office space in Honolulu, San Diego, and Phoenix. In Hawai'i, the company owns Davies Pacific Center, the Pan Am Building, Waterfront Plaza, City Center, First Insurance Center and the Pacific Business News Building.

Pacific Office Properties said the six Honolulu buildings makes it the largest office building owner in Hawai'i. The company said it will focus on acquiring more office property with institutional co-investors in Honolulu, San Diego, Los Angeles and Phoenix.