Instead of buying all of Rite Aid, Walgreen’s has settled on buying just half. The second-largest U.S. drugstore chain wants to buy 2,186 Rite Aid stores as well as distribution centers based in Connecticut, Philadelphia and South Carolina. Walgreens said in a press release that the deal is being cut this way after failing to win federal antitrust approval on the $9.5B Rite Aid buyout offer it made in 2015. However, the FTC must approve this newest offer as well. Analysts say buying just half the store fleet could make it easier to garner regulatory approval. Rite Aid’s store fleet totals about 4600 locations. (Via Reuters)
Looks like Warren Buffet wants to jump into the New York commercial real estate business. Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New York Properties has hired Herb Hirsch to lead a commercial leasing division, Lois Weiss reports.“The name speaks for itself, and there is a lot of interest and people looking to buy commercial property in New York,” says Hirsch, who is already building out his team, having brought on board Dina Fisher and Jeffrey Berman. (Via New York Post)
In the second quarter, 11,311 apartments were leased in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the highest number since 2005 according to research compiled by property management software firm RealPage. In comparison, developers brought online about 7000 new apartments during the period. “Existing product is jam-packed full, so virtually all the vacancies that exist are in the new supply moving through initial leasing,” says Greg Willet, RealPage chief economist. (Via Dallas News)
More News to Note:
Staples Sells to Private Equity Firm Sycamore for $6.9B
$275M Mixed-Use Development Underway in Salt Lake City
WPT Industrial Spending $96M on Oregon and Texas Distribution Centers