
Onetime Forest City CEO Albert Ratner isn't shy about announcing why he opposes the deal that would have Toronto-based firm Brookfield Asset Management acquire his former firm. At a special meeting of Forest City shareholders to be held Nov. 15, Ratner will be urging attendees to vote against the deal, reports Globe Street's Erika Morphy.
He writes that:
It defies reason that the six new members of the board agreed to such a hasty, significantly undervalued transaction, given Forest City’s
- high quality portfolio of real estate assets;
- minimal $300 million in recourse debt, among the lowest of any company in the industry;
- string of several recent value-enhancing initiatives, discussed below, that were completed during or after the sale process, and thus were not reflected in the company’s stock price prior to signing and announcement of the Brookfield transaction; and
- major value-unlocking milestone date (related to the expiration of tax-related sale restrictions stemming from its REIT conversion), now just about 26 months away.