Rental Demand Spurs $4B Deal

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc said it would buy Post Properties Inc for about $3.88 billion to create the largest publicly traded multifamily apartment real estate investment trust by units.

The combined company would have a market capitalization of about $17 billion, the companies said on Monday.

Post Properties shareholders will get 0.71 newly issued Mid-America Apartment shares for each share they own, the companies said.

The deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would combine companies buoyed by the rising demand for rental properties, creating an entity with 317 properties and 105,000 multifamily units.

Mid-America Apartment, based in Memphis, Tennessee, owns all or part of 254 multifamily properties and 79,496 units in 15 states, according to its website and Thomson Reuters data.

Atlanta-based Post Proprieties, has about 24,000 apartment units in more than 60 communities in Atlanta, Dallas, Washington, and Tampa, Florida, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc is the financial adviser to Mid-America Apartment, while JP Morgan is advising Post Properties.

(Reporting by Mike Stone, Writing by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Alan Crosby, Richard Chang and Savio D'Souza)