Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity involving U.S. publicly traded equity real estate investment trusts continued to accelerate in early 2026, with four major deals totaling $16.77 billion announced through April 15, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Three transactions involved privatizations of public equity REITs, while the fourth featured a public REIT acquiring another public REIT. All four deals targeted REITs trading at significant discounts to their net asset values, highlighting the sector’s valuation attractiveness.
Key highlights include:
Ares Management Corp. announced the privatization of Whitestone REIT on April 9 in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.67 billion, acquiring all outstanding common shares for $19 per share. This price represented a 12.2 percent premium to Whitestone’s closing stock price on April 8 and a 26.5 percent premium to the REIT’s closing share price before March 5, when Reuters
