Reit takeovers to climb in US with push from activist investors

Chicago

TAKEOVERS among US real estate investment trusts are poised to accelerate as shareholder activism increases and executives become more receptive to deals, according to research firm Green Street Advisors.

The number of transactions involving sizable Reits, through mergers of public companies or privatisations, has plunged almost 80 per cent in the past seven years compared with 2000 to mid-2007, when there were 32 deals, Newport Beach, California-based Green Street said in a report. Conditions "now appear ripe" to end the drought, the firm said.