$1.4-billionmerger

Neither the pricing, nor the date for the sale to start, hasbeen disclosed, yet. In addition to the offering, the Austin-basedAmerican Campus Communities will grant underwriters an option topurchase up to an additional 675,000 shares of common stock tocover any over allotments. In a prospectus filed today with theSEC, American Campus Communities' outstanding common stock will be31.8 million shares after the offering. The fully diluted,outstanding common stock will be 33.7 million shares. AmericanCampus Communities is holding a commitment letter fromCleveland-based KeyBank Corp. for a $200-million secured loan,which is also being applied to the merger costs.

In this morning's press release about the offering, AmericanCampus leaders said if the merger with Newton Square, PA-based GMHCommunities doesn't go through, then net proceeds from the stocksale will be used to pay down debt; fund its development pipeline,student housing acquisitions, and other corporate purposes.