Search
 

Zell Talks Archstone, the Future of M&A

NEW YORK CITY-The blunt and always-shocking granddad of REITs told audience members at NYU’s 17th Annual REIT Symposium about his latest deals, his thoughts on the M&A market and why be believes real estate needs more forward-thinkers.

By Jacqueline Hlavenka | Updated on April 19, 2012

NEW YORK CITY-Samuel Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity Group Investments, had some choice words for the commercial real estate industry at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate’s 17th Annual “Doing Deals in Volatile Markets” conference on Thursday afternoon. “In terms of scale and in terms of velocity, our industry is extraordinarily constipated,” he said, noting that escalating interest rates and heavy debt is burdening the market from moving forward.

“It is really simple,” he elaborated. “We extended and pretended our way five years forward. When you pretend and extend and nothing happens, you’re up the creek. As far as I’m concerned, I think it is going to take another three or four years for us to finally address the overleveraged scenario. My guess is, what will precipitate it will be rising interest rates. Right now, there is an awful lot of debt out there that’s floating over LIBOR. It’s allowing deals that wouldn’t able to be current, able to be current. The minute interest rates go up, the game changes dramatically.”

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Unlimited access to GlobeSt and other free ALM publications
  • Access to 15 years of GlobeSt archives
  • Your choice of GlobeSt digital newsletters and over 70 others from popular sister publications
  • 1 free article* every 30 days across the ALM subscription network
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications

*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

GlobeSt

Join GlobeSt

Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now!

  • Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and GlobeSt events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join GlobeSt

Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.