Apartment Income REIT stock rallies on Blackstone buyout

By Steve Gelsi

Stock jumps by 23% in its largest one-day gain ever to approach the company's buyout price of $39.12 a share

Apartment Income Real Estate Investment Trust, or AIR Communities, saw its stock price jump by 23% Monday after it agreed to be taken private by Blackstone Inc. for about $10 billion, including debt.

Apartment Income REIT's stock (AIRC) was up by $7.10 to $38.45 on plans to be acquired by Blackstone Inc. (BX) for $39.12 a share.

It's the stock's largest intra-day gain ever since the stock debuted in 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The deal was initially reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Denver-based AIR Communities owns 76 rental-housing communities mostly in coastal markets including Miami, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington D.C.

Blackstone plans to invest more than $400 million on these properties and may fund further growth in them.

"AIR Communities represents the highest quality, large-scale apartment portfolio we have ever acquired, and is located in markets where multifamily fundamentals are strong," Nadeem Meghji, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, said in a statement.

The transaction has been approved by the AIR Communities board of directors and is expected to close in the third quarter.

The company suspended payment of its quarterly dividend, effective immediately, as part of the deal.

BofA Securities, Barclays, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo are acting as Blackstone's financial advisers on the deal.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-08-24 1053ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.