Apartment M&A • Omicron Concerns • Week Ahead

December 20, 2021 | Hoya Capital

Apartment M&A • Omicron Concerns • Week Ahead Daily Recap Dec 20 Written By Summary U.S. equity markets remained under pressure Monday amid amplified concerns over the recent COVID resurgence as several European and Asian nations - including the Netherlands - have reimposed strict economic lockdowns. Adding to declines of 2.3% last week, the S&P 500 slipped another 1.1% today while the Mid-Cap 400 declined 1.7% and the Small-Cap 600 fell 1.3%.

Coming off a strong week of outperformance, real estate equities were mixed today as the Equity REIT Index finished lower by 0.8% with 5-of-19 property sectors in positive territory. Apartment REIT Bluerock Residential (BRG) soared more than 70% today after announcing that it agreed to be acquired by Blackstone (BX) for $24.25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.6B, representing a substantial premium to its close last Friday at $15.44.

Net Lease REIT American Finance Trust (AFIN) was also among the best-performing REITs today after announcing that it will acquire a portfolio of 81 shopping centers from CIM Real Estate Finance Trust for $1.3B. Income Builder Daily Recap We recently launched Hoya Capital Income Builder - a premier income-focused investment research service through Seeking Alpha Marketplace - that will be the new exclusive home of all of Hoya Capital's investment research.

Income Builder focuses on real income-producing asset classes that offer the opportunity for diversification, monthly income, capital appreciation, and inflation hedging. If you're not already on board, give us a try with a completely risk-free two-week trial and take a look around. U.S. equity markets remained under pressure Monday amid amplified concerns over the recent COVID resurgence as several European and Asian nations - including the Netherlands - have reimposed strict economic lockdowns.

Adding to declines of 2.3% last week, the S&P 500 slipped another 1.1% today while the Mid-Cap 400 declined 1.7% and the Small-Cap 600 fell 1.3%. Coming off a strong week of ...