Merger activity in April was led by the commercial real estate sector, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s M&A Deal Tracker. The biggest deal announced in April was the acquisition of Life Storage by Extra Space Storage for $16.01 billion.

The merger of two self-storage REITs is the fifth real estate M&A deal exceeding $10 billion since the beginning of 2022. In the previous four years, only eight real estate M&A deals topped $10 billion.

One of the factors driving merger activity in the REIT sector may be the favorable valuation of public real estate versus the private market. Many REITs are trading at discounts to net asset value and at implied cap rates much higher than what is seen in the real estate sales market. That has made REITs attractive acquisition targets.

Other significant real estate M&A transactions in the past year include Prologis acquiring Duke Realty Group for $25.42 billion, Oak Street Real Estate Capital and