Landmark Apartment Trust Inc. to be acquired by apartments REIT

Landmark Apartment Trust Inc., a Richmond-based multifamily real estate investment trust, announced Thursday that it has entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by Monument Partners LLC, an entity owned by affiliates of Starwood Capital Group and Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust, in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.9 billion, including the assumption of existing debt.

Upon completion of the transaction, Landmark will become a privately held company.

According to the agreement, Monument will acquire all of the outstanding stock of Landmark and all the outstanding common units of Landmark’s operating partnership, Landmark Apartment Trust Holdings LP, for $8.17 per share of common stock.

Landmark’s board of directors has approved the merger agreement and has recommended approval of the merger by the company’s stockholders.  The transaction is contingent on the approval by stockholders holding a majority of Landmark’s outstanding common stock and outstanding preferred stock, voting together as a single class.  The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.

“Today’s announcement marks the successful conclusion of a strategic review process that our board of directors undertook earlier this year, which included the potential for an initial public offering. Given recent market volatility, we believe that this merger provides our stockholders with a more certain liquidity event,” Jay Olander, CEO of Landmark, said in a statement. “… We’d like to thank our associates for all of their hard work in growing Landmark over the last several years, and we are all very proud of their efforts.”

Landmark has assets consisting of mid-market, garden-style apartments primarily in the South and some Texas markets.

Starwood is a private investment firm, based out of Greenwich, Conn., with a focus on global real estate. Milestone is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust governed by the laws of Ontario, Canada.