BRE Shareholders Okay $4.3 Bln Merger With Essex Property

(RTTNews) - BRE Properties Inc (BRE) said Friday its shareholders approved the company's $4.3 billion merger with Essex Property Trust Inc (ESS).

About 79% of the outstanding shares of BRE common stock voted with respect to the proposed merger and of those outstanding shares that voted, about 99.3% voted in favor of the merger.

In December, Palo Alto-based apartment owner Essex agreed to buy San Francisco-based BRE for about $4.3 billion, making it the largest publicly-traded real estate investment trust in the U.S. West Coast. Essex agreed to pay BRE shareholders 0.2971 newly issued shares of Essex plus $12.33 in cash for each BRE share held.

The combined company will own about 56,000 multifamily units in 239 properties in Southern California, Northern California and Seattle. The company will have a total market capitalization of about $15.4 billion.

Assuming completion of the merger, shares of BRE common stock are expected to be delisted after the close of trading on April 1, 2014, while Essex will retain its name and continue to trade under the ticker symbol ESS on the New York Stock Exchange.

Essex CEO Michael Schall will serve as president and chief executive officer of the combined company, while three directors from the BRE board will be added to the Essex board.

Essex equity holders will hold about 63 percent of the combined company, while BRE shareholders will hold about 37 percent.