Greystar to buy Education Realty in $4.6 bln deal

(Reuters) - Education Realty Trust Inc , a developer of student housing, said on Monday it would be acquired by an affiliate of Greystar Real Estate Partners for about $4.6 billion, including debt.

Education Realty shareholders will receive $41.50 per share in cash from Greystar Student Housing Growth and Income Fund, a 1.6 percent premium to the company's closing price on Friday.

Education Realty shares have gained about 12 percent since June 1 after reported that the company was exploring a sale.

The stock closed 1.3 percent higher at $41.36.

The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2018, has an equity value of $3.15 billion, based on Education Realty's outstanding shares as on May 1.

Additionally, Greystar will buy a portfolio of off-campus student housing assets from Education Realty for $1.2 billion in a joint venture with real-estate unit of Blackstone .

The newly combined Greystar and Education Realty team will own about $10 billion in portfolio of income-generating real estate concentrated in U.S. markets, the companies said.

BofA Merrill Lynch advised Education Realty, while Morrison & Foerster and Venable provided legal advise. J.P. Morgan was financial adviser to Greystar, while Hogan Lovells and King & Spalding were its legal advisers.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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