merger

Last week, shareholder Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisors LLC sent a letter to Reckson's board of directors informing them that the firm will vote against the merger until the non-core assets are re-marketed. Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder owns 835,000 shares, or about 1%. "We are writing to inform you of our current intention to vote all of our eligible shares against adoption of the merger agreement with SL Green Realty Corp," the letter stated. "We will consider lending our support to the merger only if the Board of Reckson takes the necessary steps to achieve maximum value for the portfolio."

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder's main concern is that SL Green was only interested in the core assets and therefore shareholders are not getting the greatest value for their stock. SL Green plans to sell back the non-core properties to a group of Reckson investors, headed by CEO Scott Rechler for $2.1 billion. "We have concluded that these properties were inadequately marketed to potential acquirers… Accordingly we believe an open and thorough auction of these assets has the potential to deliver significantly more value to Reckson shareholders. Mack-Cali has openly expressed interest in the non-core properties.

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder declined to comment on the letter or any kind of response the company may have received from Reckson. For its part, Reckson has acknowledged receiving the letter but had no comment other than, "The company remains committed to this value creating transaction. We have been meeting with Reckson shareholders over the past weeks and are pleased with the level of support expressed for this transaction," according to a company spokeswoman.