ProLogis, already the world’s biggest logistics landlord, has acquired US real estate investment trust Catellus for $4.9bn.
The merger between two of the largest developers in the US was agreed unanimously by both boards. Catellus president Ted Antenucci has been appointed president of global development at the merged company.
Catellus owns 40.5m sq ft of commercial property, of which 90% is industrial. The combined company will control more than 350m sq ft in over 2,250 locations in North America, Europe and Asia, together with a further 100m sq ft of developable land.
Jeffrey Schwartz, ProLogis’s chief executive officer, said: “This transaction dramatically changes the landscape of the US industrial market by consolidating two of the largest property developers.”
Catellus shareholders will receive either $33.81 or 0.822 of a ProLogis common share for each share – a 16% premium to Catellus’s Friday closing price of $29.24 on the New York Stock Exchange. ProLogis will also assume $1.3bn of debt and transaction costs.
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Catellus owns a number of high-profile distribution units in the hubs of northern California, Chicago, Dallas and Denver, together with mixed-use schemes in major West Coast cities and a 370,000 sq ft office block in downtown Chicago. It became a REIT in January 2004. |