CBRE Realty Finance Inc. and Arbor Realty Trust Inc. have reached an agreement that will head off a proxy battle that had been scheduled for later this spring.
Arbor, which owns almost 10 percent of the Hartford-based real estate finance company, agreed to withdraw its proposed slate of CBRE Realty Finance directors and to refrain from any proxy solicitations for a year. Arbor also said it would support CBRE Realty Finance’s slate of directors.
CBRE Realty Finance said that if its board begins a process of seeking proposals for its acquisition, Arbor will be permitted to participate in the negotiations.
“It was always Arbor’s objective to sit down with CBRE Realty Finance and try to work out a mutual deal, and Arbor believes this puts it in a good position to accomplish this, avoiding a lengthy, adversarial and expensive proxy contest,” said Ivan Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Arbor.
