Madison International Realty Acquires 5% Stake In Mack-Cali Realty
Madison International’s president Ronald Dickerman says his firm believes Mack-Cali holds material upside potential.
NEW YORK CITY—Madison International Realty purchased approximately 4.5 million shares of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation trading at about $20, acquiring a 5% ownership interest in the publicly-traded REIT.
“We acquired the shares at what we believe to be a discount to net asset value (NAV), and we believe Mack-Cali holds material upside potential. We see a significant discrepancy between how the public market is pricing the company’s shares and our private valuation,” says Ronald Dickerman, president of Madison International. “The company has articulated and is executing a transition to become a focused play on prime office and multifamily residential properties on the New Jersey waterfront and is committed to closing the NAV discount in its shares.”
As reported in GlobeSt.com, in January, for $70.25 million Mack-Cali sold its six-building Elmsford Distribution Center to Realterm Logistics, an Annapolis, MD. company. Mack-Cali stated the deal was part of its efforts to exit flex-warehouses while repositioning Jersey City office properties and developing multifamily on the waterfront. Mack-Cali also recently divested from industrial properties in Moorestown and Totowa, NJ. The Jersey City, NJ-based publicly traded REIT has said it is strategically consolidating its portfolio.
“The company has divested, and has stated that it will continue to divest, legacy suburban and flex assets to focus on office and multifamily directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Brookfield Place and Hudson Yards, and offers its prime space at a significantly discounted rent,” Dickerman notes.
Mack-Cali is an owner, manager and developer of five million square feet of premier office space and 4,400 multifamily units on the New Jersey waterfront, with entitlements to build 7,000 additional units. The company is leading development, leasing and activation initiatives for Harborside, a master-planned destination composed of Class A office, luxury apartments, retail, restaurants, and public spaces.
“Mack-Cali fits well with our differentiated strategy of effectuating investments in listed property companies owning prime portfolios that we believe are trading at outsized discounts to NAV,” Dickerman says.
Madison International specializes in acquiring private ownership stakes, joint venture positions, and listed property shares in prime properties and portfolios in major markets in the US, UK and Western Europe. It invests in listed real estate companies owning high-quality portfolios trading at discounts to net asset value. Other Madison International REIT investments have included GGP Inc., TIER REIT, Monogram Residential Trust, Inc., Alexander’s Inc. and Songbird Estates.