Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS) and BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE) have announced a definitive agreement under which BRE Properties will combine with Essex, creating the only publicly traded West Coast pure play multifamily REIT. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $10.4 billion and a total market capitalization of approximately $15.4 billion. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014.
Latham & Watkins LLP is advising BRE Properties in the transaction with a corporate team led by partners John Newell in San Francisco and William Cernius in Orange County, with associates: David Wheeler in Los Angeles; Michael Young, John Raney, Jeffrey Holgate, Brett Urig, Darren Guttenberg, Aneta Ferguson and Ashley Flor in Orange County; William Hackett in San Francisco; and Anitha Anne in Silicon Valley. Advice has also been provided on real estate matters by Orange County partner David Meckler and associate Alex Johnson; on environmental matters by Orange County partner Christopher Norton and associate Charles Anthony; on tax matters by partners Michael Brody and Ana O’Brien with associate Tali Weiss in Los Angeles; on employee benefits and compensation matters by Los Angeles partner Jim Barrall, with counsel Scott Thompson and associate Julie Crisp in San Francisco; and on finance matters by partners Glen Collyer and Kimberly Posin and with associate Josh Holt in Los Angeles.
