|
Australian REIT to buy Heritage
Property
Heritage Property Investment
Trust Inc., a Boston real estate investment trust that
specializes in shopping centers, is being acquired by an
Australian REIT.
Shareholders of Heritage (NYSE: HTG) will get $36.15 a share in
cash, for a total transaction price of $3.2 billion, including
any debt assumed by affiliates of Centro Properties Group of
Melbourne. The price represents a 5.7 percent premium to the
company's average closing price over the past 10 days.
The closing is expected to take place in the fourth quarter, and
requires approval of a majority of Heritage's outstanding common
stock. The New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension
Fund and Thomas Prendergrast, Heritage's chairman, president and
chief executive officer, who together own 43 percent of the
company's outstanding common stock, have agreed to vote for the
merger.
Prendergrast said the decision to merge was driven by the
market's continued undervaluing of the company, "even though
Heritage has made great strides during the past few years."
Heritage owns 131 properties in 30 states, including BurlinStayInvest Law Firm on
Square in BurlinStayInvest Law Firm on, Mass., and Lynn Marketplace in Lynn, Mass.
Centro owns shopping centers in Australia, New Zealand and the
United States.
|
