A major investor has gotten behind an unsolicited bid by Kushner Cos. to take over apartment owner Veris Residential.

Fortress Investment Group sent a letter to Veris last week expressing a willingness to finance the $4.3B bid to take over the 7,700 units owned by Veris, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The move values the primarily New Jersey-based Veris Residential at $16 per share and would grow Kushner's portfolio by roughly a third.

Veris rejected rival Kushner's offer, arguing that the bid lacked debt and equity backing and "grossly" undervalued the firm, per the Journal. On Tuesday, Charles Kushner, chairman of the family firm, sent a note to Veris saying the real estate investment trust "no longer has the financing excuse," the Journal reported.

Kushner's stake in Veris is just under 5%. When Kushner made its bid for Veris in October, the valuation was 28.8% higher than Veris' stock price, though its valuation ticked up when news of the offer broke.

Veris, which was known as Mack-Cali Realty Corp. until December 2021, has a market capitalization of about $1.4B.