US: Private equity giant Blackstone has agreed to buy Apartment Income REIT, known as AIR Communities, for around $10 billion.
The all-cash deal will see the Blackstone Real Estate Partners X fund acquire all outstanding shares of AIR Communities for $39.12 per share, a 25 per cent premium on Friday’s closing price.
New York-based Blackstone plans to invest a further $400 million to improve the AIR Communities properties, and may invest more to boost growth.
“AIR Communities represents the highest quality, large scale apartment portfolio we have ever acquired, and is located in markets where multifamily fundamentals are strong,” said Nadeem Meghji, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate.
The AIR Communities portfolio includes 76 multifamily properties with more than 27,000 units largely focused in markets such as Miami, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, D.C. The company reported 9.3 per cent operating income growth in 2023.
In December 2020, AIR Communities split from Denver-based apartment owner Aimco in a move that created two distinct publicly traded entities. At the time, Aimco said it wanted to focus solely on apartment development.
“The business the AIR team has built will be improved and expanded by collaboration with Blackstone and a shared focus on serving residents and investing wisely,” said Terry Considine, president and CEO of AIR Communities.
The deal with Blackstone was unanimously approved by the AIR Communities board and is expected to close in the third quarter. The sale will still need to be approved by company stockholders, and AIR Communities has suspended payments of its quarterly dividend.
