The buyers of the Foothills Mall in Fort Collins have extensive real estate holdings, including some in the retail realm, but will need help from the city to turn the ailing property around, people in the industry say.

Walton Street Capital and Alberta Development Partners have completed a combined $5.5 billion in real estate transactions, on properties as far off as Canada and as close as Aurora.

The two announced earlier this month that they have joined together to purchase Fort Collins' struggling mall, for a yet-to-be-reported purchase price. According to Larimer County assessor's records, the value of the 753,000-square-foot mall is just over $28 million.

Chicago-based Walton Street is a private equity real estate investment firm founded in 1994 that has invested $4 billion in more than 200 transactions nationwide. The firm typically uses single-asset transactions to acquire real estate with "significant" cash flow, according to BusinessWeek.

The most recent transaction made by Walton Street was the acquisition of Metropolitan Park East and West, Class A office space located in Seattle. Walton Street acquired that property on June 5.

Denver-based Alberta Development Partners,