What happened
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are not typically lively movers on the stock exchange. That hasn't been the case with Great Ajax (AJX 1.45%) these past few days. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, its shares were trading 10% higher week to date as of early Friday before market open. But that's not unusual for a company that's being bought out by a peer.
So what
Monday morning, Great Ajax and fellow REIT Ellington Financial (EFC 0.95%) announced in a joint press release that they are merging. The deal will be effected entirely in stock, with each common share of Great Ajax converting to just over 0.53 common shares of Ellington. The two companies said this implies a price of $7.33, which is 19% higher than Great Ajax's closing level last Friday.
Following the merger, the fattened company will take the Ellington Financial name. It will trade under the same ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. It will also be led by the current Ellington Financial CEO, Laurence Penn.
The two companies are mortgage REITs (mREITs); in contrast to equity REITs that invest directly in real estate, mREITs hold the mortgages and related securities that finance property purchases.
In the press release, Great Ajax CEO Lawrence Mendelsohn said, "We are pleased to combine our investment portfolios and create a company that we believe will be well positioned for growth and value creation."
Now what
Great Ajax and Ellington Financial said they expect the deal to close by the end of this year. It has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors at both REITs.
