Alternative asset manager Centerbridge Partners is in negotiations to purchase a minority stake in a major family-owned commercial real estate company.
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Centerbridge is in talks to acquire a stake in Merritt Properties from Almanac Realty Investors, a real estate investment subsidiary of Neuberger Berman, the Financial Times reports, citing anonymous sources.
The deal values the Baltimore-based firm at $3B, including debt, FT reported. The Merritt family, which owns more than 21M SF of commercial real estate and $3B in real estate investments, would still retain the majority stake in the business.
The business was founded in the 1960s by Leroy Merritt, the cousin of current CEO Scott Dorsey, who joined the firm in 1971. It developed and owns hundreds of office, industrial and retail buildings in Maryland, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, according to its website.
One of the company's most recent acquisitions was the Beach Commerce Center, a 46K SF industrial park in Jacksonville, Florida.
New York-based Centerbridge has $47B in assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate and has taken the lead ahead of several other prospects in the deal, FT reported.
The deal comes almost 10 years after Almanac invested roughly $400M in Merritt in a deal that was projected to allow the company's portfolio to grow up to 30% through acquisition, development and redevelopment opportunities in industrial properties, according to a 2018 release.
That deal was a continuation of the partnership between the two companies, which started when Almanac invested $75M in Merritt in 1997.
Centerbridge's interest comes as real estate dealmaking and investment are accelerating.
Between the beginning of 2026 and late May, real estate deals increased by 44% to $99B worldwide, FT reported, citing LSEG data.
Last week, AvalonBay and Equity Residential agreed to an all-stock merger, resulting in a 180,000-unit REIT with a $69B enterprise value, which would make it both the largest REIT merger in U.S. history and the largest owner of U.S. apartments by far.
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