Blackstone Acquires Equity Office Properties
After completing all necessary formalities, the New York based Blackstone Group has officially acquired the Equity Office Properties Trust. It has taken control over the assets owned by EOP which includes 580 buildings spread over 108.6 million square feet area and located in 16 states. The deal was closed with a payment of $23 billion in cash. Price of each share has been decided at $55.50 and would be given to the shareholders.
Interestingly, this deal has taken a long time to get materialized.
Speaking on this occasion, Richard Kincaid, President and CEO of EOP, expressed his happiness over the deal. He labeled it as a historical moment and said that the deal was one of the largest private equity firm acquisitions. He duly acknowledged the contributions of the past and present employees who had worked hard in building the organization. Kincaid said he was proud of their achievements that had taken 10 long years of intense struggle and hard work.
Vornado Realty Trust competed with Blackstone Group for the bid. Both the groups were intensely engaged in the take over. The process of bidding continued throughout January, with both the companies trying to increase the asset value of the EOP. The tussle finally ended with the shareholders approving the bid in favor of the Blackstone group.
Meanwhile, Macklowe Properties successfully acquired the 6.5 million square feet New York Office complex of EOP for a total amount of $7 billion. The deal was closed just before the decision to merge EOP with Blackstone group was taken. Macklowe currently owns eight of the nine New York properties of EOP.
More Articles :
|
