In the latest edition of the Nareit REIT Report podcast, Beth Burnham Mace, chief economist and director of outreach at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), looked at the latest trends and developments in the senior housing sector.
Digital Realty to Buy European Data Center Service Provider Interxion in $8.4 Billion Deal
Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) said Oct. 29 it plans to buy European data center service provider Interxion (NYSE: INXN) in a deal valued at $8.4 billion, including debt.
Digital Realty CEO A. William Stein said the deal will “enable customers to solve for the full spectrum of data center requirements across a global platform.”
Prologis to Buy Liberty Property Trust for $12.6 Billion
Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) said Oct. 27 that it will acquire Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) in an all-stock transaction for approximately $12.6 billion, including debt.
Under the terms of the agreement, Liberty shareholders will receive 0.675 of a Prologis share for each Liberty share they own. The transaction is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.
Focus on Tenant Experience Ranks High in Deloitte 2020 Outlook
In the latest edition of the Nareit REIT Report podcast, Jim Berry, U.S. Real Estate leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP, highlighted some of the trends that emerged in Deloitte’s recently released 2020 commercial real estate outlook.
MGM Resorts Selling Bellagio Assets to Blackstone for Approximately $4.2 Billion
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) said it has agreed to form a joint venture with Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) that will acquire MGM’s Bellagio real estate assets. MGM will receive a 5% stake in the joint venture and cash of approximately $4.2 billion.
MGM Resorts is a tenant of MGM Growth Properties LLC (NYSE: MGP).
The joint venture will lease the Bellagio assets back to a subsidiary of MGM Resorts for an initial annual rent of $245 million.
FTSE Nareit All REITs Index Rose 2.1% in September
REIT returns outpaced the broader market in September and for the year-to-date, as a moderate growth and low interest rate environment continued to favor the sector.
The total returns of the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index rose 2.1% in September, outpacing the S&P 500, which rose 1.9% during the same period. The total returns of the FTSE Nareit Mortgage REIT Index gained 6.7% last month, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 0.2%.
For the year to Sept. 30, the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index was 27.4% higher, while the S&P 500 was 20.6% higher.
Institutional Investors Paying Increased Attention to Public Real Estate Platforms
In the latest edition of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast, Gil Menna, co-chair of the REITs and real estate M&A practice at law firm Goodwin, discussed the climate surrounding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offering (IPO) activity.
M&A activity has been light in 2019 compared to previous years, in large part due to an “anemic” REIT market performance last year, Menna said.