AvalonBay Communities Inc. and Equity Residential are nearing a deal that will see two of the biggest apartment real estate investment trusts by market value combine, people familiar with the matter said.
The terms being discussed would provide 2.793 shares of Equity Residential common stock, which closed trading Wednesday at $66.28 apiece, for each share of AvalonBay stock, said the people. A transaction could be announced as soon as Thursday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information was confidential.
AvalonBay has a market value of about $26 billion and Equity Residential’s is $24.8 billion.
No final ...