REIT M&A boom continues with record-breaking year

Outperforming strong expectations and driven both by strategic and private capital, 2021 has already been a record year for REIT mergers and acquisitions, which hit $108 billion in transaction volume as of Sept. 30, 2021. JLL’s Capital Markets M&A and Corporate Advisory group’s new M&A and Strategic Transactions Monitor report details the positive themes in the public capital markets space contributing to this unprecedented M&A surge.

REITs have shown strong earnings growth in 2021, with 63 percent of REITs beating consensus FFO estimates in the second quarter of 2021. This has contributed to REITs outperforming the S&P 500 by 1,100 basis points thus far, and REITs are among the best performing of the closely followed 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors. Additionally, all major REIT sectors are in the green, with significant gains in previously out-of-favor sectors, such as retail (56 percent gain), office (15 percent gain) and hospit