The head of Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc., Orange County’s second-largest office owner, is considering buying out the company and taking it private, according to reports.
Chief executive Rob Maguire is seeking financing for a management-led buyout of the real estate investment trust, according to Reuters.
A deal would reportedly have a minimum per share price in the mid-$30s. Maguire Properties currently trades around $28, and counts a market value of $1.3 billion.
A deal also could be struck for another firm to buy the landlord outright, the report said.
The company’s value has been hit in recent months due to concern from analysts over Maguire Properties’ concentration of offices in Orange County, which is seeing slow leasing activity and higher vacancy rates, due in large part to the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Bank of America analysts downgraded the company recently, saying OC “is in the midst of a real estate recession, and that neighboring markets, including Downtown L.A., are likely to face a slowdown as well.”
It’s not the first time in the last year that Maguire has entertained offers of a buyout. In late 2006, the company was said to be on the selling block, but Rob Maguire turned down an offer worth nearly $40 a share, analysts said.
Maguire then stunned the market by grabbing a large stake in Equity Office Property Trust’s Southern California portfolio, including its OC offices, in a nearly $3 billion deal. It has since sold off some of those offices to pay down debt.
