Prologis and Liberty Property Trust have entered into a definitive merger agreement by which Prologis will acquire Liberty in an all-stock transaction, valued at approximately $12.6 billion, including the assumption of debt. The board of directors of Prologis and the board of trustees of Liberty have each unanimously approved the transaction.
“Liberty’s logistics assets are highly complementary to our U.S. portfolio and this acquisition increases our holdings and growth potential in several key markets,” said Prologis chairman and CEO Hamid R. Moghadam. “The strategic fit between the portfolios allows us to capture immediate cost and long-term revenue synergies.”
The transaction deepens Prologis’ presence in target markets such as Lehigh Valley, Chicago, Houston, Central Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Southern California. The acquisition on an owned and managed basis comprises a 107 million square foot logistics operating portfolio with 87 percent overlap with key markets; 5.1 million square feet of logistics development in progress; 1,684 acres of land for future logistics development with build-out potential of 19.7 million square feet and 4.9 million square foot office operating and development portfolio.
Prologis plans to dispose of approximately $3.5 billion of assets on a pro rata share basis. This includes $2.8 billion of non-strategic logistics properties and $700 million of office properties.
“Liberty’s high-quality logistics real estate will strengthen our portfolio as well as our customer roster,” said Prologis chief investment officer Eugene F. Reilly. “We are also excited about the caliber of talent at Liberty and expect a number of their employees to join us to help manage the portfolio and execute on capital deployment.”
BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley are acting as financial advisors and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor to Prologis. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are acting as financial advisors and Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP is serving as legal advisor to Liberty.
