For those of you who have dreamt of owning the legendary Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York City, your wish is just weeks away.
Empire State Realty Trust Inc, is all set to launch October 1 an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 71.5 million shares at $15 to $13 a share, seeking up to $1.07 in its debut offering, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.
The company will list itself under the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol 'ESRT', reports Bloomberg.
The Bank of America and Goldman Sachs will bring the REIT to the market. The financial giants are arranging a road show to gather potential investors. Final prices of the shares will be fixed by the interest from the road show, reports Reuters.
The REIT will comprise of about 21 properties including the Empire State Building, which will be the centerpiece of the Trust. Of the total, seven are located in midtown Manhattan while the others are in Westchester County, Connecticut and Fairfield County.
The REIT comes after almost two years of constant battle with dissident shareholders who opposed the Initial Public Offering Plan (IPO) for almost a year, the Malkins finally managed to secure the required number of votes to take the tower public and make it a part of the country's second largest IPO. Plans got delayed after the REIT started getting purchase offers from several property big-wigs of the country.
Builder Rubin Schron kick-started the bidding trend with a $2.1 billion offer in June. Other developers like Joe Sitt and Reuven Kahane and a group of investors followed suit with offers reaching up to $2.25 billion. Thor Equities reportedly offered a sum more than $2.5 billion for the building. More recently, in August it made another undisclosed full-cash offer as well.
The company rejected all bids that were offered to buy the portfolio. They decided to move ahead with the IPO after reviewing all proposals claiming that it was the best option that would work in favor of the investors' interests.
Now that the REIT is about to roll, there is much anticipation in the market. If it succeeds in raising the amount it has targeted, this could be a record amount raised in the history of REITs.
