Hot Properties

Hot Properties In October 2007, Archstone, one of the largest investors, developers and operators of apartment communities in the United States, was privatized in a $22.2 billion acquisition by Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers Holdings in alliance with a number of other investment banks. It was among the biggest deals, and was incredibly well timed as the market ground to a halt just 10 months later. Archstone is back in the news as Sam Zell and the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings are slugging it out for a 26.5% interest in the company, which is currently controlled by Bank of America and Barclays. Lehman favors an IPO to exit the investment in Archstone; the banks are fixated on a sale to capitalize on the hot-again multi-family market. I reflected over the weekend about the 2,700 employees at Archstone who are likely worrying about how they will be impacted by the high-stakes game that is being played out in a very public forum. One wonders how much the bidders are considering the human capital of the company – the executives and key professional of Archstone will be hot properties for competitor companies. Good news for recruiters, bad news for Archstone.