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Winner: Annaly Capital's $1.5B buyout of Hatteras Financial
Why: REITs drastically reversed course in Q1, dumping assets where they had previously been net buyers—making it all the more impressive for Annaly Capital to snatch up a competitor in a $1.5B expansion.
Annaly acquired the North Carolina-based mortgage REIT for $15.85/share, a 25% premium from where Hatteras was trading, showing that Annaly wasn't afraid to flash some cash, even with Q1's market turmoil.
The deal by the country's largest mortgage REIT was a rare highlight in a month filled with Chinese debt bubbles, tumbling profits and the Fed putting the brakes on rate hikes—all pointing towards a lackluster economic showing.
Annaly's bullish expansion in the midst of these bearish signs has earned it Bisnow's April Deal of the Month.
Honorable Mentions:
Wells Fargo agreed to the largest FHA settlement in history in April, agreeing to pony up $1.2B for its sketchy lending practices in the run-up to the financial crisis.
Riding the wake from Anbang's wave of US hotel purchases, another Chinese firm, HNA, bought out Carlson Hotels to close out the month—as the grand total of China's overseas takeovers nears $100B for 2016.
This is the fourth in a monthly series of articles recognizing the best deals in commercial real estate. Please send your nominations for a local Deal of the Month here.
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