Griffin & Signature to Merge into $3B Company

Griffin Capital Corporation announced that Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT, Inc. ("GCEAR") had entered into a merger agreement with Signature Office REIT, under which Signature will merge with GCEAR in a stock-for-stock deal that creates an approximately $3 billion REIT with a combined 15.2 million square feet of office and industrial assets. The merger was unanimously approved by each REIT's respective Board of Directors, but is conditioned on formal approval by Signature shareholders, receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed during the first half of 2015.

Commenting on the merger, Kevin Shields, Griffin Capital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "As we look forward to the next phase of our lifecycle, we believe the additional scale, diversity and operating efficiencies that our combined portfolios will garner is paramount in driving additional stockholder value in the future. Earlier this year we sold all of the remaining capital stock in our follow-on offering, and once we fully invest this equity, we expect our total capitalization to exceed $3 billion upon stabilization."

Michael Escalante, Griffin Capital's Chief Investment Officer added, "We look forward to having Signature shareholders standing shoulder-to-shoulder with GCEAR and its management team, which has invested over $26 million of its own capital in GCEAR. We are excited about this opportunity and, in our opinion, a ‘win-win' scenario was engendered by the understanding that together we can accomplish more than we can apart."

Eastdil Secured represented Signature in the deal, and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisors to Signature. Robert A. Stanger & Co. provided GCEAR's board of directors with a fairness opinion for the transaction, according to a CoStar report.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

REIT Acquires Three Atlanta Medical Office Buildings

Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III, Inc., a newly-formed entity sponsored by American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Corporation, announced this week that it had entered into agreements to acquire three medical office buildings located in Greater Atlanta for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $12.1 million. The three new medical office building acquisitions include the 16,315-square-foot Country Club Medical Office Building in Stockbridge, GA, the 37,500-square-foot Acworth Medical Complex in Acworth, GA, and the nearly 19,000-square-foot DeKalb Professional Center in Lithonia, GA.

"Each of these medical office buildings is located near, or closely affiliated with, a large hospital system in the heart of a thriving community with growing demand for healthcare services," said Dan Prosky, a principal of American Healthcare Investors and president and chief operating officer of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III. "These are among the key traits we seek when evaluating an asset for acquisition, and make these three Atlanta-area medical office buildings ideal acquisitions for Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III."

According to a Commercial Property Executive article, the healthcare real estate sector has been growing at a fantastic rate over the past two years. Griffin-American raised nearly $750 million in investor equity in 2012 and was even more prolific in 2013, raising more than $1.7 billion. International inventory comprises 18 percent of the REIT's portfolio.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Mack-Cali Sells Wyndham HQ for $96.6M

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, the New Jersey-based REIT, announced this week that it had sold 22 Sylvan Way in Mack-Cali Business Campus, Parsippany, New Jersey, for $96.6 million to Griffin Capital Corporation. The commercial office property is apparently the priciest office transaction so far this year in New Jersey. As part of the transaction, Griffin has assumed responsibility for approximately $7 million in future tenant improvement allowance and commission obligations. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mack-Cali was represented in the transaction by Jose Cruz and Kevin O'Hearn, both of HFF.

"Due to the long-term lease with Wyndham, this was an excellent opportunity to monetize the value of this class A corporate headquarters," said Mitchell Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali. "The proceeds will be reinvested into more strategic growth opportunities throughout the Northeast."

The three-story, 249,400-square-foot property was originally developed in 2009 pursuant to a long-term, net lease to serve as the headquarters for Wyndham Worldwide Corporation. Wyndham extended the lease term, re-upping to 15 years, to coincide with the term on its recently completed headquarters expansion at the adjacent 14 Sylvan Way, which also was developed and is owned by Mack-Cali.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.