CreXus Investment Corp. (CXS) agreed to sell 13.3m shares of common stock in its initial public offering (IPO) at a price of $15 per share for $200m in gross proceeds, according to an announcement from Annaly Capital Management. CreXus’ public offering joins the fray of activity involving other real estate investment trusts (REIT) in their quest for liquidity. Recently, Starwood Property Trust raised $952m from public and private offerings and Brookfield Realty Capital Corp. campaigned to raise $500m. CreXus acquires, manages and finances commercial mortgage loans and commercial real estate debt. Fixed Income Discount Advisory Company, a subsidiary of Annaly, will externally manage CreXus. Annaly will acquire 4.5m shares from the offering, which is expected to close Sept. 22, 2009. Deutsche Bank Securities and BofA Merrill Lynch act as joint book-running managers. CreXus granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2m shares of its common stock to cover potential over-allotments. Write to Jon Prior.