Starwood ups buyout offer for Monmouth; Hyatt to acquire Apple Leisure for $2.7B

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of real estate news stories published throughout the week.

U.S. banks are split on the prospects for commercial real estate. While some remain cautious, others believe it provides a rare opportunity for loan growth.

Half of the top 10 lenders with available CRE office loan portfolio data reported quarter on quarter increases, while the other half posted decreases, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of company disclosures. Some bankers are concerned about the long-term future of office properties as many industries may permanently shift to remote or hybrid work.

Driven by its acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares Inc., The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. posted the largest quarter-over-quarter increase at 39.9%. Despite this, its executives were among the more bearish on CRE in the latest earnings season.

Find out more in this exclusive data dispatch.

M&A front

* Starwood Capital Group affiliate Starwood Real Estate Income Trust Inc. increased its all-cash proposal to buy Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. to $19.93 per share, representing a 100% cash-certain value premium to Equity Commonwealth's revised offer.

* Hyatt Hotels Corp. intends to purchase resort company Apple Leisure Group from its private-equity owners KKR & Co. Inc. and KSL Advisors LLC for $2.7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Property blocks

* Oxford Properties Group Inc. agreed to purchase a 14.5 million-square-foot industrial property portfolio from KKR & Co. for $2.2 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

* DigitalBridge Group Inc., formerly known as Colony Capital, is nearing completion of the sale of its 48-hotel portfolio across 21 U.S. states, The Real Deal reported, citing a motion filed in a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York in Dutchess County.

* Prime Residential acquired two adjacent multifamily properties in Hermosa Beach, Calif., for a combined price of $275‬ million from Equity Residential, The Real Deal reported.

* Edison Properties LLC is considering the sale of storage provider Manhattan Mini Storage in a deal that could value the company at more than $3 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

* Medical Properties Trust Inc. paid $315 million for the Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., from a Tenet Healthcare Corp. affiliate, The Real Deal reported.

* Nexus REIT, as part of its transition to a pure-play Canadian industrial REIT, agreed to buy three single-tenant distribution centers in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick for roughly C$230.4 million.

* ViacomCBS Inc. agreed to sell an office tower that was formerly headquarters of CBS Corp. in New York, to Harbor Group International LLC for $760 million.

Joint venture activity

* A joint venture between Childress Klein Properties Inc. and Ram Realty Advisors LLC is selling the 358,000-square-foot Lowe's Global Technology Center office building in Charlotte, N.C., Real Estate Alert reported. The sale is expected to receive bids of roughly $335 million.

* A joint venture between 60 Guilders LLC and hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management LLC bought a nearly 186,000-square-foot office condominium at 12 MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., from a Brookfield Property Partners LP unit for $128 million, The Real Deal reported.

Cohen & Steers increases stakes in retail REITs in Q2'21