Pacific made the offer to acquire Maguire in early June for around $20 a share, and the offer was subsequently withdrawn, according to a regulatory filing by hedge fund Third Point LLC, which owns 8.8% of Maguire shares.

While it has been withdrawn, "the proposal can still be converted into a fully-financed, unconditional offer," the Third Point filing states.Maguire spokeswoman Peggy Moretti would not talk about the filing, saying only, "We're not commenting on that."

Executives at Pacific Office, a unit of Shidler Group of Honolulu, also declined to offer details on the rebuffed acquisition."Honestly I just can't comment," says Jim Kasim, chief financial officer of the West Coast office building REIT, which in June acquired four San Diego-area office buildings, increasing Pacific Office's portfolio to 3.3 million leasable sf.

News of the rejected offer sent shares of Maguire (MPG) down 23 cents to close at $12.37, while shares of Pacific (PCE) were unchanged at $6.60.

Maguire has undergone several changes since new Maguire president and CEO Nelson Rising took over in May. The company recently announced plans to sell its Orange County assets, it launched a search for a new chief financing officer following the resignations of three executives, and began seeking new financing of $100 million or more to provide more cash on hand.

The Downtown L.A.-based office REIT and the largest owner and operator of Class A office properties in the Los Angeles central business district, noted in comments in a public filing in May that the asset sales, the restructuring of the management team and the new financing are all designed to increase shareholder value, a goal that analysts and investors have been urging the REIT to pursue for some time.

Analysts have long cited the big debt load that Maguire's properties carry, an obstacle when Maguire sought to sell the company in recent years. Major shareholders also have cited the debt, and other aspects of Maguire's operations, in pressing the company to implement changes.

For the latest quarter, the REIT reported a loss of $48.6 million, or $1.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $12.6 million and 27 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

Nelson Rising, before his 11-year tenure with Catellus, spent 10 years as a senior partner with Maguire Thomas Partners, a predecessor to Maguire Properties. He is also a former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and chairman emeritus of the Real Estate Roundtable.