S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of U.S. real estate news stories and more published throughout the week.
WeWork shakeup
* Adam Neumann, co-founder of coworking giant WeWork Cos. Inc., resigned as CEO but will continue as nonexecutive chairman, saying that the scrutiny directed toward him in recent weeks amid the delayed IPO of its parent The We Co. has become "a significant distraction." The company appointed Artie Minson, formerly co-president and CFO, and Sebastian Gunningham, formerly vice chairman, as its co-CEOs. The co-head of the company's real estate investment fund, Wendy Silverstein, also resigned, among other notable departures.
* Later in the week, it was reported that SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to possibly increase its pledged investment in WeWork in 2020 to at least $2.5 billion from an earlier commitment of $1.5 billion. Meanwhile, WeWork's new management is said to be considering a number of measures, including major cuts to the company's workforce, selling its Managed by Q Inc. unit and removing some 20 friends and family members of Neumann and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, from the company.
Mass assets
* Private equity giant Blackstone Group Inc. closed on its $18.7 billion acquisition of logistics assets in the U.S. from GLP Pte. Ltd.'s three U.S. funds. Blackstone Real Estate's global opportunistic BREP strategy bought 115 million square feet for $13.4 billion and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. purchased 64 million square feet for $5.3 billion.
* Hospitality Properties Trust, which moved to rebrand as Service Properties Trust, completed its $2.4 billion cash purchase of a net-lease service retail portfolio from Spirit MTA REIT. Spirit MTA received net proceeds of approximately $241 million from the transaction, while its external manager Spirit Realty Capital Inc. received about $265 million in aggregate proceeds.
* Casino real estate investment trust VICI Properties Inc. completed its purchase of the land and real estate assets of JACK Cincinnati Casino for about $558 million in cash, and agreed to lease the property to Hard Rock International on triple-net basis for a 15-year term, with four five-year renewal options.
* Brookfield Properties sold the 31-story trophy office tower at 75 State St. in Boston for $635 million to an affiliate of Rockpoint Group LLC, Banker & Tradesman reported, citing data from the Suffolk Registry of Deeds.
* Nightingale Properties LLC and Wafra Capital Partners Inc. sold the 11-story, 354,000-square-foot Coca-Cola building at 711 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan, N.Y., for $955 million, The Real Deal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
* Canada's Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust agreed to sell 27 stand-alone retail properties and three distribution centers for roughly C$426 million, with closing expected Sept. 30.
* Germany's Deka Immobilien Investment GMBH purchased the commercial portion, comprising 29 floors, of the 69-story Stantec Tower mixed-use building in Edmonton, Alberta, for about €345 million from ICE District Properties.
M&A field
* RW Holdings NNN REIT Inc. agreed to acquire Rich Uncles Real Estate Investment Trust I in an all-stock transaction, following a strategic review the latter launched in January. The nontraded REITs focus on single-tenant net-lease income-producing properties.
* Shareholders of Holloway Lodging Corp. approved the company's proposed sale to Canadian private equity firm Clarke Inc. The deal is expected to close by Sept. 30, subject to the approval of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and other conditions.
* Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT Inc. shareholders approved the company's merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II.
* Shareholders of Condor Hospitality Trust Inc. approved the company's planned sale to NexPoint Hospitality Trust's operating partnership at a Sept. 23 meeting.
* Common stockholders of Voltari Corp. approved the company's merger with and into Starfire Holding Corp. on Sept. 24.
IPO window still open, but some having trouble getting through
WeWork slipping into 'negative spiral' as IPO hopes dim
Currency shift, flight to luxury juiced Anbang's return on hotel portfolio sale
Debt funds rise as a CRE lender, while life insurers fade
