A New York City investment firm has proposed an acquisition of INDUS Realty Trust, a prominent landlord and developer that operates in Connecticut, INDUS announced Monday morning.
Centerbridge Partners, which owns about 15% of INDUS Realty’s common stock, along with GIC Real Estate, would acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of the publicly traded company.
Based on the unsolicited, non-binding bid, Centerbridge would purchase the company for $65 per share.
INDUS Realty said its board of directors is reviewing the proposed sale “to determine the best path forward for the company that maximizes value for all of the company’s shareholders.”
Morgan Stanley & Co. is serving as financial adviser to INDUS Realty and Latham & Watkins is legal counsel.
INDUS Realty is based in New York City and was previously known as Griffin Industrial Realty. The company operates nationally and is active in Connecticut.
In September, INDUS Realty signed a definitive agreement to sell eight office/flex properties in Bloomfield for $11 million. It expects to close on the deal during the fourth quarter.
Also, INDUS Realty recently received land use approvals for a 248,000-square-foot distribution center on 59.6 acres at 105 International Drive in East Granby.
Several years ago, Indus Realty sold two suburban office buildings in Windsor and Bloomfield as part of a larger effort to focus solely on developing, managing and leasing industrial/warehouse space.
INDUS still holds more than 450 acres zoned for industrial development in Bloomfield, Simsbury and Windsor, as well as in Massachusetts.
The publicly traded company is focused on growing its holdings in other high-growth industrial markets with access to strong and/or rapidly growing populations and economies, including central Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The takeover bid follows a down year for INDUS Realty, which has seen its stock price decline 30% during 2022.
At the end of the third quarter, Indus reported 27% rental revenue growth over the year to $13 million. The company said that the main driver of the rental revenue growth came from the net addition of 1.2 million square feet of industrial/logistics space.
