Key Takeaways
- Blackstone announced Monday it was taking real estate investment trust Apartment Income REIT, known as AIR Communities, private in a $10 billion all-cash acquisition.
- AIR Communities shareholders will receive $39.12 per share, a nearly 25% premium over the REIT’s closing price on Friday.
- Blackstone said it would be investing more than $400 million to upgrade AIR’s communities.
Blackstone (BX) said Monday that it was taking Apartment Income REIT (AIRC) private in an all-cash deal worth about $10 billion, sending shares in the real estate investment trust (REIT) known as AIR Communities skyrocketing.
AIR Communities shareholders will receive $39.12 per share, a nearly 25% premium over the REIT’s closing price on Friday. AIR Communities owns 76 rental housing communities, primarily in U.S. coastal cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
Blackstone said that it plans to spend more than $400 million “to maintain and improve the existing communities in the portfolio and may invest additional capital to fund further growth.”
Blackstone Real Estate Global Co-Head Nadeem Meghji said that the acquisition was the “highest quality, large scale apartment portfolio” purchase in Blackstone’s history. He added that the housing is situated “in markets where multifamily fundamentals are strong.”
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
AIR Communities shares surged 22.6% to $38.40, their highest level in more than a year, as of about 11:45 a.m. ET Monday. Blackstone shares were up 1% at $128.74.