Vornado Terminates Bid for Equity Office

Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Paramus, N.J., has terminated its offer to acquire Equity Office Properties Trust, a Chicago-based REIT, in the wake of the latest amended offer from affiliates of The Blackstone Group.Vornado had recently boosted its offering price to $56 per share, and then made an additional proposal involving an upfront tender offer for up to 55% of Equity Office's shares to address concerns about "the speed and certainty of the Vornado offer." But Equity Office announced Feb. 6 that it had amended its existing merger agreement with affiliates of Blackstone to increase the consideration to $55.50 per share in cash. The REIT's board then recommended that shareholders approve the amended merger pact at a special shareholders' meeting scheduled for Feb. 7. Vornado can be found online at http://www.vno.com, and Equity Office can be found at http://www.equityoffice.com.