Dive Brief
- Alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management is buying Bridge Investment Group Holdings in an all-stock transaction with an equity value of approximately $1.5 billion, according to a news release posted on Monday.
- Salt Lake City, Utah-based Bridge has approximately $50 billion of assets under management, primarily across the industrial and residential sectors and other specialized real estate asset classes. In the most recent National Multifamily Housing Council Top 50, the alternative investment manager ranked No. 18 with 54,999 units.
- New York City-based Apollo said in the release that it anticipates that the acquisition will enhance its origination capabilities in real estate equity and credit, and is expected to benefit Bridge’s growing suite of hybrid and real estate product offerings.
Dive Insight:
Upon closing the transaction, Bridge will operate as a standalone platform within Apollo’s asset management business, retaining its existing brand, management team and dedicated capital formation team, according to the release. Bridge Executive Chairman Bob Morse will become an Apollo partner and lead Apollo’s real estate equity franchise.
“With Apollo’s global integrated platform, resources, innovation and established expertise, we are confident that Bridge will be positioned for the next phase of growth amid growing demand across the alternative investments space,” Morse said in the release.
Bridge, which has 300 professionals with significant real estate investment and operating expertise, has]a strong track record in its sectors, according to Apollo Partner and Co-Head of Equity David Sambur.
“Their business will complement and further augment our existing real estate capabilities, and we believe we can help scale Bridge’s products by leveraging the breadth of our integrated platform,” Sambur said in the release.
Bridge isn’t the only large apartment platform that could change hands this year.
Earlier this month, Bethesda, Maryland-based REIT Elme Communities said it had “initiated a formal evaluation of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value,” according to its fourth-quarter earning release.
Elme’s board of trustees is working with independent financial and legal advisors to assess all options. However, there is no assurance that the process will result in the REIT pursuing a transaction or any other strategic outcome.
In January, the board of directors for Aimco decided to explore alternatives to “unlock and maximize shareholder value” for the Denver-based REIT, which could include a sale or merger of the company, according to a press release.
Aimco’s board also discussed the possibility of selling the major components of the business in one or a series of transactions and accelerating individual asset sales. The REIT is reducing its exposure to development activity and monetizing certain assets.
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