Bloomberg reports: According to recent report on Bloomberg.com, a buyout deal is unfolding that, if completed, would be the largest sale of a U.S. real estate investment trust (REIT) since Tishman Speyer took over Archstone-Smith Trust in 2007. Australian Investment Bank Macquarie Group Ltd. is taking offers starting at $3.5 billion to sell Scottsdale, AZ-based Spirit Finance Corp. Spirit is a publicly traded REIT, with $3.5 billion in assets and $2.9 billion of debt as of year-end 2009. Asked to weigh in on the potential sale, Real Capital's analyst Ben Thypin stated that, “REITs and private-equity firms would have a lot of interest in a company like Spirit because their tenant quality makes cash flows predictable in an uncertain market.” Spirit’s current portfolio holdings include 1,200 retail assets across 45 states, with concentrations of sale-leaseback and single-tenant properties. Thypin added that the sale of Spirit to a potential buyer has broader implications for other major REIT and commercial real estate investors. A successful sale would give property traders the “…confidence that they can unload their boom-era investments.”
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