What's better than dry powder?
Cheap equity.
Cheap, plentiful, and consistent debt.
And sidelined competitors.
---- REITs rising ----
Pubicly-traded REITs haven't been big buyers since the GFC.
They couldn't compete with heavily levered private equity with 0% ish debt.
But the tables have turned.
---- Not all REITs ----
NAREIT says there are about 225 publicly traded REITs.
Of these, there are 100 or so legit REITs listed on major exchanges.
And of these, 21 seem to be in a position to go on the acquisition offensive.
These 21 REITs represent about $625 billion of equity market capitalization.
Assuming they grow by 10% in the next few years and leverage their equity 1/1, that's about $125 billion of acquisitions, which is needle-moving in a $300-400 billion-a-year market.
Two big questions...
1. Which REITs will lead the charge?
2. Will transaction activity be driven by M&A or one-off?
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