Annaly Plans CreXus REIT Buyout

NEW YORK CITY-Already the owner of about 12.4% of the common stock of locally based REIT CreXus Investment Corp., Annaly Capital Management Inc. said Monday it plans to acquire the remaining 87.6% in an all-cash deal worth $12.50 per share, or approximately $840 million. The proposed buyout was announced in a letter to CreXus’ board made public on Monday. GlobeSt.com’s calls to CreXus were not returned by deadline early Monday afternoon.

Agency mortgage REIT Annaly, which already manages CreXus through its wholly owned Fixed Income Discount Advisory Co. subsidiary, says it has engaged Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its financial advisor and K&L Gates as legal counsel to assist in the proposed deal. In a statement, recently appointed chairman and CEO Wellington Denahan says the acquisition would be “part of a broad evolution of our capital allocation strategy.”