Will Post Lose Brand Name And Sell Assets? New Owner Says It's Possible
Mid-America Apartment Communities is keeping the Post Properties brand on its new portfolio. For now.
But it could be selling some of Post's properties in the near future. During a conference call this week, MAA CEO Eric Bolton told stock analysts that the firm's “biggest priority” will be “recycling some capital probably out of Dallas and Atlanta."
"Those two markets are going to comprise a fairly healthy percentage of overall portfolio concentration," Eric said, "and that both would be a little bit higher than I think we want to maintain over the long haul.”
Eric did not specifically identify properties that could go up for sale. Eric's views come just weeks after MMA announced a $4B merger with Atlanta-based Post Properties, which owns 16 properties in the metro area.
It's a deal that means longtime CEO Dave Stockert (above) will be forgoing day-to-day leadership at the company, as we reported here. But what does that mean for the Post brand? Eric says the Post moniker will remain. For now.
“We think that the Post brand has value. We think it’s particularly important in the Atlanta market. You’ll see no change initially whatsoever,” he says. “But over the course of the coming year, we will be looking at opportunities to get a little bit of alignment, some degree of alignment between sort of the Post brand and the MAA brand and see if we can come up with something that makes sense.”
