The office real estate firm has agreed to be sold to MCME Carell—an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management and real estate investment firm Morning Calm Management, both based in Florida—for US$7 per share, 26 per cent more than its stock’s last closing price. (The Logic)
Talking point: City Office owns over 50 office buildings, mostly in U.S. Sunbelt markets like Dallas, Phoenix, Orlando, San Diego and Tampa. The office real estate market has struggled to recover from the shift to remote and hybrid work and the period of high borrowing costs that followed. “In light of a challenging environment for the office sector, this transaction delivers immediate and significant value to our shareholders,” CEO James Farrar said in a statement Thursday. For the buyers, the acquisition is a bet on the office market rebounding. City Office’s stock price rose more than 24 per cent Thursday morning to its highest level since March 2023.