American Realty Capital Properties and Cole Real Estate Investments agreed yesterday to an $11.2 billion deal in which American Realty will buy Cole with a mix of cash and stock, the New York Times DealBook blog reported today. The combined company will become one of the largest commercial landlords in the country, leasing space to companies including Walgreens, Bed Bath & Beyond and FedEx. The origins of the deal date back to March, when American Realty made an unsolicited offer for Cole that would have derailed Cole’s move to go public. Cole rejected the offer and went on to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Since the listing in June, Cole shares have climbed more than 17 percent. Nonetheless, American Realty, the smaller of the two companies, still wanted to do the deal. It will pay a 14 percent premium over Cole’s closing stock price yesterday of $12.82, and assume significant new debt in taking over the larger company.
