NEW YORK — Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII have agreed to acquire Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE: GPT) for $7.6 billion in an all-cash transaction. The sale is expected to close before the end of the year. Shortly after the announcement of the merger, shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel LLP launched an investigation into whether the board members of Gramercy breached their fiduciary duties in valuing the transaction at this level. One Wall Street analyst has set a price target of $33 per share for Gramercy’s common stock, the 52-week high of which was $31.26 per share. Under the terms of the deal, Blackstone will acquire all outstanding shares of New York-based Gramercy’s common stock for $27.50 per share. This figure represents a 15 percent markup of Gramercy’s current stock price, which closed at $23.82 per share on Friday, May 4. Shareholders of Gramercy will still be entitled to receive second-quarter dividends of 37.5 cents per share. Should the deal close after Oct. 15, shareholders will receive a per diem payment of approximately $.004 per share on each day between Oct. 15 and the closing date. “We believe this transaction validates the quality of the portfolio and platform …
