Top US Landlords Agree to $50 Billion Real Estate Merger (2)

AvalonBay Communities Inc. and Equity Residential agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction that will unite two of the biggest apartment real estate investment trusts with a combined market value of more than $50 billion.

Under the terms of the transaction, AvalonBay shareholders will receive 2.793 shares of Equity Residential common stock for each of their shares, leaving AvalonBay holders owning about 51.2% of the combined company, according to a statement Thursday that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report.

“This combination creates a new and fundamentally stronger company with differentiated capabilities that will drive structurally superior cash flow generation, ...