Veris Residential surges after hostile bid from Kushner Cos
21/10/2022 15:16
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Shares of Veris Residential Inc
VRE.N jumped nearly 20% in early trade on Friday after a real
estate firm run by businessman Jared Kushner's family made a
hostile $16-per-share takeover offer following several rebuffed
approaches.
The offer values real estate investment trust (REIT) Veris
at $1.46 billion on an equity basis. The company had total
liabilities of $2.33 billion as of June 30.
The offer comes at a time when the real estate sector
struggles to deal with rising costs and a downturn in demand due
to higher home prices and mortgage rates.
Veris shares have lost more than 30% so far this year.
Kushner Cos, which owns nearly 5% of the multifamily REIT,
offered to buy the rest of it for $16 per share, a 28.8% premium
to the stock's last close of $12.42 on Thursday.
Veris said it was evaluating the latest proposals in
consultation with advisors.
The proposals, which include a joint venture offer, were
made public after attempts to engage Veris over the past several
months were ignored, Kushner Cos said.
In a letter to the Veris board made public on Thursday,
disclosing the bid, Kushner Cos said the company is "being
mismanaged" and offered to help bring down its "market-high"
operating expenses and reposition core assets.
Veris is in the tail end of a 7-year transition from owning
suburban office assets to dealing in luxury multifamily
properties, brokerage BTIG said in a note.
BTIG said it suspects Veris may take the offer seriously,
but may also opt to approach other potential buyers.
Jared Kushner, former U.S. President Donald Trump's
son-in-law, now runs global investment firm Affinity Partners.
He no longer works for his family's real-estate business, the
Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, when it first reported
on the offer.
(Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
((Priyamvada.C@thomsonreuters.com;))