Monmouth Bids Signal Stepped-Up M&A Activity
While Monmouth Real Estate Corp.’s board of directors considers an unsolicited bid for its industrial REIT, other M&A activity is heating up.
July 14, 2021 | Gail Kalinoski | Commercial Property Executive
Industrial REIT Monmouth Real Estate Corp., which was set to be purchased by Sam Zell’s Equity Commonwealth in a $3.4 billion deal later this year, is now considering a second offer after receiving an unsolicited takeover bid this week reportedly from Starwood Capital Group.
The all-cash offer from the unidentified “large private investment firm,” which included commitment letters from a major global bank to cover debt financing and provide an equity bridge, came barely two months after Monmouth had signed a definitive agreement with Equity Commonwealth for sale of 65 percent of the REIT in an all-stock deal. The new bid, which came from Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group, would be for the entire REIT, according to Bloomberg, which broke the news. If Monmouth goes with the new bid, it would have to pay a $62 million termination fee for the original deal with Equity Commonwealth, which is part of Zell’s Equity Group Investments LLC.
