Roberts Realty Investors, an Atlanta-based publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns multifamily properties, is up for sale. The company has hired Sandler O'Neill + Partners LP to "explore potential strategic alternatives."
But Charles Roberts, the REIT's chairman, president and chief executive, makes no bones that the company is seeking a change in its ownership structure. "These alternatives could include a sale, merger or other business combination," he declared in the press release.
Thomas Howland, managing director of Sandler O'Neill, goes even further. "As an example, given the uncertainty in the IPO market, we believe a larger, private real estate operator would welcome the opportunity to merge into Roberts Realty to become a publicly traded company and provide enhanced liquidity to the current Roberts Realty shareholders," he said.
Roberts Realty, whose thinly traded stock (several days in a row of zero volume preceded this announcement) saw over 69,000 shares sold between the market opening and 11:15 this morning, was up 13.5% or $0.25 cents to $2.21 per share.
