By Joshua Burd
Investors have closed on their $3.5 billion acquisition of Veris Residential Inc., bringing the company private after its multiyear overhaul of a once-sprawling portfolio.
The buyers, a consortium led by Affinius Capital in partnership with Vista Hill Partners, disclosed Wednesday that they had completed the previously announced all-cash deal for all outstanding shares of Veris’ common stock. The Jersey City-based real estate investment trust, the successor to the once-prolific Mack-Cali Realty Corp., is no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Notably, the buyers said in February that Vista Hill Partners’ leadership includes Bradford Klatt, co-founder and managing partner of Roseland Property Co. and Canoe Brook Partners of Roseland, and Jonathan Kushner, president of Jersey City-based Kushner Real Estate Group. At the time, Veris’ leaders said the move was a logical next step after a high-profile transition to a pure-play multifamily REIT.
“Over the past five years, we have undertaken meaningful steps to pivot away from office, simplifying and focusing the business, strengthening our balance sheet and enhancing our operational platform,” Veris CEO Mahbod Nia said at the time. “Today’s announcement marks the culmination of our strategic transformation into a top-performing pure-play multifamily REIT with core, Class A properties concentrated in premier U.S. residential markets and our stated objective of realizing intrinsic value on behalf of our shareholders. I would like to thank our remarkable employees for their hard work, dedication and invaluable contributions over the past five years.”
The deal comes five years after the former Mack-Cali rebranded to Veris Residential, a resounding step that came as the real estate investment trust was transforming its portfolio and its financial position. That included selling billions of dollars’ worth of suburban office space in New Jersey and elsewhere that had defined Mack-Cali for decades and leaning into its growing multifamily platform.
The company, which also sold off pieces of its flagship Harborside campus in Jersey City, also spent years replacing its board and its front office, moves that rippled through the state’s commercial real estate sector.
The consortium acquired the REIT for some $19 per share. J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisers to Veris, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Seyfarth Shaw LLP acted as legal advisers.
UBS Investment Bank was the lead financial adviser for the consortium, working alongside Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP provide legal counsel to the buyers.
Eastdil Secured acted as real estate adviser to the consortium, with Goldman also serving as the lead arranger and underwriter on a bridge loan and UBS Securities LLC acting as co-arranger and underwriter. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as legal counsel to Goldman.
Veris to be acquired by Affinius Capital-led group in $3.4 billion all-cash deal
