In our continuing quest to make you smart, here are the biggest deals in real estate history. Although many went down at the peak (or just before the crash in 2007), that doesn’t mean buyers necessarily overpaid. In fact, Blackstone’s purchase of the Hilton has been referred to as the most lucrative leveraged buyout on record.
1. Equity Office Properties
Deal value: $36.9B
Headquarters: Chicago
Industry: Office REIT
Buyer: Blackstone Real Estate Advisors
Year: 2006
Lowdown: Price pushed up by a bidding war between Blackstone and Vornado Realty Trust.
2. Harrah’s Casino Portfolio
Deal value: $30B
Headquarters: Nevada
Industry: Entertainment, casino holdings
Buyer: Apollo Investment and TPG Capital
Year: 2008
Lowdown: Now called Caesars Entertainment. Considered inexpensive at the announcement of the LBO, it struggled to go public but did so in 2012.
3. Hilton Worldwide Holdings
Deal value: $26B
Headquarters: Virginia
Industry: Hotel
Buyer: Blackstone Group
Year: 2007
Lowdown: Bought at the height of the bubble and seemingly overpriced, saved by a great IPO in December 2013.
4. Archstone-Smith Trust
Deal value: $21B
Headquarters: Colorado
Industry: Multifamily REIT
Buyers: Tishman Speyer Properties, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, Barclays
Year: 2007
Lowdown: Lehman’s bankruptcy estate sold Archstone for $6.5B to Equity Residential and AvalonBay in 2012.
5. Realogy Holdings
Deal value: $9.3B
Headquarters: New Jersey
Industry: Real estate services
Buyer: Apollo Global Management
Year: 2006
Lowdown: Seemed like another high-priced deal before the housing bubble burst, but Apollo made a $1.3B profit after cost cuts, an IPO and sale of shares.
6. Centro Properties Group US assets
Deal value: $9B
Headquarters: Australia
Industry: Real estate investment
Buyer: Blackstone
Year: 2011
Lowdown: Biggest property deal since burst of the housing bubble.
7. Viterra
Deal value: $8.8B
Headquarters: Germany
Industry: Multifamily
Buyer: Deutsche Annington Immobilien
Year: 2005
Lowdown: The former subsidiary of E.ON is still private.
8. Mills Corp
Deal value: $8.8B
Headquarters: Virginia
Industry: Real estate investment
Buyer: Farallon Capital Management, Simon Property
Year: 2007
Lowdown: Simon Property manages the former Mills’ shopping malls, which operate as the Landmark Mills segment within the company.
Sources: Dealogic, S&P Capital IQ and Real Capital Analytics
