S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of U.S. real estate news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that may require a subscription.
Brookfield on a roll
* Brookfield Asset Management Inc. interviewed banks for the potential $5 billion sale of Brookfield Property Partners LP's North America-focused industrial property business IDI Logistics, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources.
* Brookfield Asset Management, as majority shareholder of Brookfield Property Partners, provided written consent to the Toronto Stock Exchange confirming that it is in favor of Brookfield Property's pending acquisition of regional mall landlord GGP Inc., satisfying Brookfield Property's unit holder approval requirement.
The merger is still subject to approval from GGP shareholders and is expected to close in the third quarter.
Private education
* Education Realty Trust Inc. is considering a possible going-private deal with various private equity firms, as the student housing real estate investment trust considers a potential sale, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
Cross-continental deal
* Medical Properties Trust Inc., in a joint venture with France's Primonial Group, agreed to sell a 50% interest in a German portfolio of 71 post-acute hospitals for expected proceeds of about €1.14 billion. Medical Properties will maintain a 50% stake in the portfolio, and an affiliate will continue to manage the facilities.
* Storage and information management services provider Iron Mountain Inc. plans to align its global operations with the goals set under the Paris Agreement on climate change by joining the RE100 initiative and committing to using 100% renewable energy to power its global electricity requirements by 2050.
Property deals
* Vornado Realty Trust agreed to sell its 49.5% stake in the 666 Fifth Ave. office condominium in Manhattan, N.Y., to joint venture partner Kushner Cos. for expected net proceeds of $120 million, in a conditional deal expected to close in the third quarter.
Previous reports indicated that Brookfield Property Partners would provide funding to Kushner, which has struggled to service the debt on the 41-story tower.
* A subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. Ltd. sold a mixed-use office and retail complex in Minneapolis for $320 million, in one of the city's most expensive real estate transactions of 2018, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
* Kilroy Realty Corp. completed the acquisition of the Oyster Point life science development in South San Francisco for roughly $308 million. The seller was Chinese developer Greenland Group, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The project is entitled for 2.5 million square feet and will feature 11 buildings spread across roughly 40 acres.
* American Campus Communities Inc. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to lease land from Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., for the development of a $615 million college housing project.
Conference coverage
S&P Global Market Intelligence reporters were on the ground at U.S.-based real estate investment trust trade organization Nareit's REITweek 2018 conference in New York.
Conference Chatter: Interest rates will rise 'very slowly, very deliberately,' Zell says
Conference Chatter: Store openings by digitally native brands picking up, Macerich exec says
Conference Chatter: Hilton's Nassetta on HNA, home-sharing and the fate of the Waldorf
Conference Chatter: Generalist investors remain wary of REITs, executives say
Conference Chatter: JBG SMITH 'well-positioned' for Amazon or Apple headquarters deal, CEO says
Conference Chatter: HCR ManorCare was 'doomed' by high leverage, Welltower CEO says
Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Retailer 'mash-ups' an antidote to retail-space oversupply
Data Dispatch: NAV monitor: US equity REITs trading at 7% median discount at May-end
Data Dispatch: US REIT at-the-market offering activity down 56.6% YOY in Q1
Data Dispatch: Mall REITs own 24 properties with a newly announced Sears store closing
