Blackstone to buy Equity Office in $36 bln deal
– Private equity buyout firm Blackstone Group agreed to buy U.S. office building owner Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for $36 billion including debt, billing it as the largest private equity deal ever.
The offer by Blackstone affiliate Blackstone Real Estate Partners of $48.50 per share in cash — an 8.5 percent premium to the stock’s last closing price – values the equity of the company at nearly $19 billion, based on share data from the company’s latest regulatory filing.
"We are extremely excited about this landmark transaction with Equity Office, which represents the largest private equity deal in history," Jonathan D. Gray, senior managing director of The Blackstone Group, said in a news release.
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"We believe that the skills and strengths of Equity Office will greatly enhance our existing office platform, which has been expanded through our recent acquisitions of CarrAmerica and Trizec."
Equity Office and Blackstone were not immediately available for comment.
Equity Office, founded by billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell, said its board of trustees had approved the deal, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2007. It said neither its management nor its trustees were part of the buying group.
Shares of Equity Office closed on Friday at $44.72 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Equity Office Properties Trust is the largest publicly held office building owner and manager in the United States with interests in 580 buildings comprising 108.6 million square feet in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
The Blackstone Group, a global private investment and advisory firm, has raised a total of more than $67 billion for alternative asset investing of which almost $13 billion has been for real estate investing. The firm has a long track record of investing in office buildings, hotels and other commercial properties.
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