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NWJ Cos., Wilshire Enterprises In $31M Merger

NEWARK-Wilshire, the troubled real estate organization, will finally be acquired after a nearly five-year turnaround effort gone awry.

By Eric Peterson | Updated on June 17, 2008

NEWARK-Wilshire Enterprises Inc., the real estate organization based here, has been sold, capping off a five-year turnaround effort that didn’t quite work as originally planned. New York City-based NWJ Cos. Inc. Monday formally agreed to acquire the company for $3.88 in cash per share for approximately 7.9 million common shares outstanding. That adds up to just more than $30.6 million.

“We are pleased to deliver solid value to our shareholders in a very difficulty market environment,” says Wilshire CEO Sherry Wilzig Izak, in a statement. “This merger agreement is the result of months of hard work by everyone involved, and we are proud of what we have accomplished.”

NWJ CEO Nickolas W. Jekogian III, says in a statement that “this transaction is a major step forward in the implementation of our long-term growth strategy.” The saga leading to the pending merger, which is subject to approval by shareholders, dates back nearly five years to Wilshire’s revealed turnaround strategy involving the sale of its New Jersey properties to focus on its holdings in Arizona, Texas and Florida. Those sold-off holdings included the company’s signature Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange, picked up by an investor group for nearly $12.8 million. Two years ago, the ongoing repositioning drew calls from Mercury Real Estate Advisors, Wilshire’s largest unaffiliated shareholder, for Izak’s resignation and the company’s liquidation.

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