NEW YORK CITY — Affiliates of Centerbridge Partners LP and GIC Real Estate Inc. have entered into an agreement to acquire INDUS Realty Trust Inc. (Nasdaq: INDT) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $868 million. Participating members of INDUS’ board of directors have unanimously approved the deal.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, INDUS stockholders will receive $67 per share in cash. That figure represents a premium of 17 percent to the company’s closing stock price on Nov. 25, the date of Centerbridge’s initial public announcement that it intended to issue a takeover offer with GIC to acquire INDUS.
“The transaction delivers immediate and significant value to our stockholders, and we believe it validates the quality of the platform and portfolio we have built over INDUS’ long history,” says Michael Gamzon, president and CEO of INDUS.
INDUS, a New York City-based industrial REIT, owns 42 buildings totaling roughly 6.1 million square feet in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.
The deal is expected to close this summer and is subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, INDUS’ common stock will no longer be listed on Nasdaq and INDUS will become a privately held company.
INDUS’ stock price opened at $66.15 per share Wednesday, Feb. 22, down from $76 per share one year ago.
Centerbridge is a private investment management firm founded in 2005 with approximately $36 billion in assets under management with offices in New York and London. Singapore-based GIC is a global investment firm established in 1981.
— Kristin Harlow