Новости
1 May 2007
DLA Piper 2007 “State of the Market” Real Estate Survey predicts “Bullish” 2007; Public-to-private consolidation to continue
Study to coincide with firm’s Global Real Estate Summit on May 1
Пресс-релиз
Click this link to view the CNBC segment which features Barry Sternlicht from Starwood Capital discussing the findings of the firm’s 2007 “State of the Market” real estate survey.
(New York) – Cautious optimism – which defined the U.S. commercial real estate market for much of the last decade – has given way to a new type of exuberance according to respondents of a national survey conducted by global law firm DLA Piper US LLP.
The survey, measuring the attitudes and perspectives of 274 top executives within the commercial real estate industry, reveals that abundant capital flows from both private equity funds and traditional lending sources have spurred an insatiable demand for real estate assets as 78 percent of respondents describe their 12-month outlook for the U.S. commercial real estate industry as “bullish,” up from 43 percent in 2005. When asked the primary reason for their confidence, 48 percent cited the continued growth of the U.S. economy.
Building upon the momentum generated by the historic number of transactions that occurred in 2006, culminating with the blockbuster $39 billion acquisition of publicly traded Equity Office Properties by private equity firm Blackstone Group, nine out of 10 respondents expect that the public-to-private M&A trend will continue in the coming year.
When asked the reasons for this continued trend, respondents cited a confluence of key factors driving the record number of public-to-private deals, led by private equity funds willing to pay a premium for real estate assets, cheap rates in the debt market and the public markets undervaluing REITs.
“The growing influence of private equity capital in the real estate markets is unmistakable, yet the overwhelming spike in optimism throughout the industry is surprising at a time when some industry experts fear that pricing may have peaked and there is also new evidence of a slowdown in the U.S. economy,” said Jay Epstien, chair of DLA Piper's U.S. Real Estate practice group.
“It is also interesting to note that the majority of executives believe the public-to-private consolidation trend, which has been dominated by many of the largest players in the industry, will create an abundance of opportunities for the smaller players, not just the large investors.”
According to DLA Piper, the survey captured a number of other surprising conclusions throughout the industry, including:
In addition to the raw data captured, survey respondents shared some interesting perspectives when asked to reveal their thoughts on the impact of the public-to-private M&A trend.
One respondent aptly described this trend by saying, “No deal is too big.” Another respondent added, “It will serve to increase activity in the near term as any public company is now fair game to be taken private.”
The survey coincides with DLA Piper’s 2007 Global Real Estate Summit to be held in Chicago on May 1 and attended by many of the executives included in the survey.
For a copy of the full results of the survey, please contact Brian Kiefer at 312-252-4113 () or John Corey at 312-252-4102 ().
About DLA Piper
DLA Piper has 3,200 lawyers in 24 countries and 63 offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in corporate, finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, tax, and technology, media and communications. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.
About DLA Piper’s Real Estate practice group
Consistently ranked as the world’s top real estate practice by leading industry research firms, DLA Piper continues to diversify its real estate practice by expanding is global capabilities through the addition of leading practitioners throughout the world. With more than 250 real estate lawyers in offices throughout the United States, and more than 600 throughout the world, DLA Piper provides a full range of transactional and advisory services to real estate-related firms, such as developers, investors, lenders and asset managers. The firm also provides advice relating to acquisitions, dispositions, financing, leasing, entitlements, economic incentives, corporate facilities and related legal services to its clients.
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CONTACTS:
Jason Costa, Media Relations, DLA Piper, 212.776.3739
John Corey, Media Relations, GreenTarget Global Group, 312.252.4102
Brian Kiefer, Media Relations, GreenTarget Global Group, 312.252.4113