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The long-anticipated Veris Residential $3.4B takeover moved a decisive step closer to reality Monday as Veris Residential Inc. announced its board has approved a $3.4 billion all-cash acquisition by an investor group led by Affinius Capital.

The deal, guided by six law firms and a roster of Wall Street heavyweights, signals the final act in a corporate transformation that reshaped the real estate investment trust from an office-focused landlord into a streamlined multifamily powerhouse.

Premium Price Caps Strategic Shift

Under the agreement, the Affinius-led consortium — which includes Vista Hill Partners and GIC Real Estate Inc. — will pay $19 per share, valuing Veris at $3.4 billion.

The offer represents a 23.3% premium over Veris’ Feb. 4 closing share price and a 27.5% premium to the 30-day weighted average through Feb. 5, according to the announcement.

The all-cash transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

“Over the past five years, we have undertaken meaningful steps to pivot away from office,” CEO Mahbod Nia said, describing a strategy that simplified operations, strengthened the balance sheet and sharpened the company’s residential focus. He called the agreement the culmination of Veris’ reinvention into a “top-performing, pure-play multifamily REIT” concentrated in premier U.S. residential markets.

Board Chair Tammy Jones noted the transformation began in 2020, when the board was reconstituted and set the REIT on its course away from office properties and toward multifamily housing.

From Hostile Bid to Boardroom Accord

The takeover follows a turbulent chapter in Veris’ history.

In 2022, Kushner Cos. launched a $1.46 billion hostile bid for the company, claiming in a letter that Veris had lost 46% of its value over three years due to mismanagement. Negotiations ultimately fractured over a nondisclosure agreement, and the deal unraveled.

By August 2023, Kushner struck a different tone, applauding Veris’ operational gains, including expanded multifamily investments and a $420 million sale of New Jersey office properties.

A Refined Residential Portfolio

As of Sept. 30, Veris owned 17 residential buildings in the Northeast totaling 6,581 apartment units. In the third quarter of 2025, those properties posted a 94.7% occupancy rate and blended net rental growth of 3.9%, according to earnings reports.

Throughout 2025, Veris sold or placed under contract $542 million in nonstrategic assets — spanning office, residential and undeveloped sites — as part of its sharpening focus. The company also maintains a land bank across Massachusetts and New Jersey with development potential for up to 2,174 residential units.

Wall Street and Big Law Line Up

Legal counsel for Veris included Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

The acquiring consortium was advised by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP, with additional representation from Simpson Thacher.

On the financing front, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as lead arranger and underwriter on the buyers’ bridge loan, joined by co-arranger UBS Securities LLC. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP represented Goldman Sachs.

Financial advisers to Veris are J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, while UBS Investment Bank is advising the buyers.

If completed, the acquisition will take Veris private and close the curtain on its public market run — a final chapter in a saga that began with strategic overhaul and ends with a multibillion-dollar handshake.