AmREIT Will Explore Its Options

HOUSTON—AmREIT Inc. said late Tuesday that its board will explore strategic alternatives for enhancing stockholder value, and has hired Jefferies LLC as its financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster LLP and Venable LLP as its legal advisors. The decision comes as the shopping center REIT has rejected an unsolicited offer from Regency Centers Corp. to buy it for $22 per share.

“AmREIT has one of the highest quality retail and mixed-use real estate portfolios in the country, with nearly 50 premier properties strategically located in five of the most desirable growth markets in the US,” including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Atlanta, says Kerr Taylor, AmREIT’s chairman and CEO. “Given the value of our unique assets, robust development pipeline and promising future prospects supported by our top-of-class platform, our board believes that now is the right time to conduct a thorough review to determine how best to continue to enhance stockholder value, and we are taking appropriate action to ensure a thorough evaluation.”