(Bloomberg) -- Starwood Capital Group LLC has agreed to buy a UK real estate investment trust while warehouse landlord Segro Plc has struck a deal for a smaller rival as a wave of consolidation sweeps the property industry.
The private equity group has made a £673.5 million ($883 million) recommended cash offer for Balanced Commercial Property Trust, according to a statement Wednesday. The deal, which will pay 96 pence in cash for each BCPT share, represents an 8.7% discount to the company’s last reported net asset value in June.
Separately, Segro has agreed to buy London listed Tritax EuroBox Plc, an owner of European warehouses, for £552 million in an all-share deal, the company said Wednesday. The deal represents a discount of 14% to Tritax Eurobox’s last reported net asset value in March.
Mergers and acquisitions of publicly traded UK property companies have been increasing as the sector begins to recover from the shock of higher rates. That’s seen companies including UK Commercial REIT, Picton Property Income Ltd. and Abrdn Property Income Trust become targets.
It comes after a torrid period for publicly traded UK and European real estate, which has seen many companies trade at persistently wide discounts to the reported value of their assets. That’s invited interest from private equity groups including Starwood and Blackstone that have secured deals to snap up REITs at discounts to NAV.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.