Blackstone To Acquire Bluerock Residential REIT For $3.6B
Blackstone Real Estate has agreed to acquire Bluerock Residential Growth REIT in an all-cash deal valued at $3.6B, or $24.25 a share. Blackstone will thus acquire 30 multifamily properties totaling about 11,000 units, most of which are in Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Denver, Orlando, Florida, and Phoenix, along with a loan book secured by 24 additional multifamily assets.
As part of the agreement, Bluerock will spin off its single-family residential holdings ahead of the acquisition to its shareholders, forming a new REIT, Bluerock Homes Trust. The new entity will own interests in about 3,400 single-family houses nationwide.
Bluerock's board of directors unanimously approved the sale, which is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022. The company's shareholders will vote on the deal at an unspecified time in the near future.
After word of the deal broke on Monday morning, Bluerock stock surged by over 75% in the first few hours of trading. Including that surge, the company's stock is up more than 120% since the beginning of 2021. The company says that the price Blackstone agreed to pay represents a premium, excluding the value of Bluerock Homes Trust, of about 124% over the closing stock price on Sept. 15, the date before it was reported that Bluerock was exploring a sale.
Most members of Bluerock's senior management have agreed that rather than receiving cash, they will retain their interests in the company’s operating partnership, which will hold the assets related to the single-family rental business upon completion of the spinoff.
Blackstone Group has been an aggressive buyer of multibillion-dollar assets. In October, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust completed the acquisition of logistics specialists WPT Industrial REIT in an all-cash deal valued at $3.2B, and in August, Blackstone completed the acquisition of data center giant QTS Realty for $10B. In June, the company agreed to acquire rent-to-own company Home Partners of America for $6B.
