Office of the Blackstone Group in Luxembourg.
Geert Vanden Wijngaert | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Blackstone will buy American Campus Communities for $12.8 billion including debt, the housing company said Tuesday, as the world’s largest alternative wealth manager bets on rising rents after colleges reopen.
ACC owns 166 properties in 71 campus markets, including Arizona State University and the University of Texas at Austin.
The price per share of the all-cash deal is $65.47, nearly 14% higher than ACC’s last stock close. Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company are up nearly 13% to $64.84 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
The deal comes months after Jonathan Litt’s activist investment firm Land & Buildings requested a seat on ACC’s board, urging the company to aggressively sell its assets and buy back shares.
M&A activity in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector hit a record high in 2021 thanks to cheap capital from low interest rates, a resilient US housing market and an economic recovery from the pandemic.
According to the real estate service provider JLL, the M&A transaction volume of REITs increased in 2021 from USD 17 billion in the previous year to USD 140 billion.
ACC said it will be privatized through Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc and Blackstone Property Partners.
In another bet on real estate, Blackstone agreed in December to buy Bluerock Residential Growth REIT in a $3.6 billion deal.