Crescent's final NYSE trade was $22.77 per share, three cents under Morgan Stanley's buyout bid. In today's stock market activity, more than 8.1 million shares of Crescent were traded for a 0.03% increase. One of Crescent's last actions to signal the start of the closing with Morgan Stanley was a barrage of SEC filings to terminate registration, notices that started to filter out to shareholders just minutes before 4 p.m. Central followed within minutes of notice that the deal had been sealed.
"Today we are pleased to announce that we have completed our transaction with Morgan Stanley Real Estate, a transaction that was embraced by our board and management as well as our shareholders," John C. Goff, Crescent vice chairman and CEO, says in a press release confirming the closing. "We are confident that the transition process will be seamless for our customers, employees, partners and vendors."
Greenhill & Co. LLC was Crescent's financial adviser and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP was its legal counsel. Morgan Stanley was financial adviser for the buy side, with Goodwin Procter LLP and Jones Day as its legal counsel.
In its press release, Morgan Stanley didn't address some issues that have turned into cliffhangers for the industry, particularly who from Crescent's executive team might be staying on board. But, what has been confirmed for GlobeSt.com is the Crescent name will stay in place.
As the dust settled on the day, Morgan Stanley did get 54 premier office buildings, totaling 23 million sf, in select US markets, with concentrations in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Miami and Las Vegas plus resort residential properties in Scottsdale, AZ, Vail Valley, CO and Lake Tahoe, CA. The deal included Canyon Ranch and its trademark flag.
"We are excited to acquire the unique portfolio of properties that Crescent put together," says Michael Franco, managing director, Morgan Stanley Real Estate. "We believe that the depth and breadth of our real estate investing platform will enable us to maximize the value of the diverse holdings of office, destination resorts and resort residential." Crescent is the fifth US public company and sixth overall since 2005 that Morgan Stanley has taken private.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.