Listen to this article

After a back-and-forth that started around this time last year, Prologis announced the closing of its all-stock acquisition of Duke Realty Corp. Oct. 3.

Valued at approximately $23 billion, including the assumption of debt, San Francisco-based Prologis said the completed deal expands its presence in key markets.

Duke Realty Chairman and CEO James Connor was appointed to the Prologis board of directors, effective immediately upon the closing. As of press time, Prologis (PLD) was up 3.42% for Oct. 3 trading at $105.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Prologis to transform Burlington County office property into logistics site

“In addition to the day-one accretion and avenues for further earnings growth, this acquisition gives us an even stronger ability to support our customers and their growth,” said Prologis co-Founder, CEO and Chairman Hamid Moghadam in a statement. “We’re gaining high-quality properties and more than 500 new customers in key markets.”

Not only that, the move marks Prologis’ entrance into new markets as well, like Savannah, Ga. — the fourth-largest U.S. gateway for container imports.

Through the acquisition, Prologis said it gains:

• 142 million square feet of fully operational logistics buildings (approximately 480) in 19 major U.S. markets, including New Jersey, Southern California, South Florida, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta;
• 7 million square feet of buildings under development;
• approximately 17 million square feet of developable land; and
• 500+ new customers

Prologis said it will actively onboard Duke Realty customers, including to introduce them to the company’s Essentials platform, a proprietary suite of solutions and services designed to solve the challenges of modern logistics facilities. The company says it leases modern logistics facilities to a diverse base of approximately 5,800 customers principally across two major categories: business-to-business and retail/online fulfillment.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup served as financial advisors while Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to Prologis. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as the lead financial advisor and Hogan Lovells US LLP counseled Duke Realty. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Alston & Bird LLP also served as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to Duke Realty.

ICYMI

In May, Prologis Inc. sent a public letter to Duke Realty Corp. Chairman and CEO James Connor – following months of private attempts – offering to buy the industrial property REIT in an all-stock transaction. In June, that offer was accepted. Read more.