REITs

Helping to Transform an Industry

Latham & Watkins is a leader on Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) transactions, handling all aspects of a REIT's formation and operation. Having advised on the market-changing Kimco REIT conversion and IPO in 1991, Latham’s lawyers have remained at the cutting-edge of this sector ever since, working on many of the most prominent and sophisticated deals in the market.

Comprehensive Coverage in REIT Matters

Latham lawyers advise on REIT matters from cradle to grave, and readily execute:

• Conversions of existing corporations and partnerships into REITs, including through partnership roll-up transactions and corporate spin-offs 
• UPREIT and DOWNREIT transactions
• Formulating and structuring the initial REIT organization
• Private placements and public offerings, including IPOs
• REIT mergers, acquisitions and liquidations
• Ongoing company representation and REIT compliance issues

Latham’s capabilities extend to advising:

• Equity REITs and mortgage REITs
• NYSE-listed REITs
• Private REITs, including those used in joint ventures and investment funds
• SEC-registered non-traded REITs
• Property owners engaging in transactions with REITs
• Investment banks in REIT transactions

Latham’s REIT team has worked on many of the most prominent initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US. Most recently, Latham handled IPOs for:

• American Homes 4 Rent
• CyrusOne Inc.
• InfraREIT, Inc.
• Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc.

In prior years, Latham's IPO experience included the listing for: 

• American Assets Trust, Inc.
• Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc.
• Apollo Residential Mortgage, Inc.
• BioMed Realty Trust, Inc.
• Chatham Lodging Trust
• CoreSite Realty Corporation
• Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
• Douglas Emmett Company
• Excel Trust, Inc.
• Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.
• Kilroy Realty Corporation 
• MPG Office Trust, Inc. (formerly Maguire)
• Spirit Realty Capital, Inc.
• Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc., and many others 

In the mergers and acquisitions area, Latham has most recently represented: 

• BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. in its US$672 million acquisition of Wexford Science & Technology 
• BRE Properties in its US$16.2 billion merger with Essex Property Trust, Inc., creating the only publicly traded West Coast pure play multifamily REIT
• J.P. Morgan in connection with the merger of Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA) and Colonial Properties Trust with a transaction value of US$8.6 billion 
• InvenTrust Properties Corp. (formerly known as Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc.) in the spin-off and listing of InvenTrust Properties' premium lodging business, Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc., the US$1.1 billion sale of InvenTrust Properties' select service hotel portfolio and the US$1.9 billion sale of InvenTrust Properties' core triple net lease assets to AR Capital
• MPG Office Trust, Inc. in its merger with an affiliate of Brookfield, with a transaction value of US$2.3 billion 
• Realty Income Corporation in its US$2.9 billion acquisition of American Realty Capital Trust, a transaction that was reflected as a “Big Deal” by The American Lawyer
• Special committee of independent directors of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II in its US$4 billion acquisition by NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. 
• Spirit Realty Capital, Inc. in its US$7.4 billion merger with Cole Credit Property Trust II, creating the second largest publicly traded triple-net-lease REIT in the United States