Salt Lake real estate investment firm acquired in $1.5 billion deal

Salt Lake City-based real estate investment firm Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Apollo, a New York City private equity firm. The all-stock transaction has a reported equity value of approximately $1.5 billion.

Founded in 2009, Bridge deals in residential and industrial real estate investment, as well as other specialized real estate asset classes.

“Led by an experienced senior leadership team and over 300 dedicated investment professionals with significant real estate investment and operating expertise, Bridge’s forward-integrated model, nationwide operating platform and data-driven approach have fostered organic growth and consistently produced desirable outcomes across asset classes,” Apollo said in a release announcing the deal.

Bridge will provide Apollo with immediate scale to its real estate equity platform and enhance Apollo’s origination capabilities in both real estate equity and credit, Apollo said. This is expected to benefit Apollo’s suite of hybrid and real estate product offerings.

Bridge has approximately $50 billion in assets under management in real estate products targeting both institutional and wealth clients and is expected to be highly synergistic with Apollo’s existing real estate equity strategies and leading real estate credit platform, according to the announcement.

“We are proud to be joining Apollo and its industry-leading team, who share our commitment to performance and excellence,” said Bridge Executive Chairman Bob Morse. “This transaction will allow the Bridge and Apollo teams to grow on the strong foundation that Bridge has built since 2009 as we work to pursue meaningful value and impact for our investors and communities. With Apollo’s global integrated platform, resources, innovation and established expertise, we are confident that Bridge will be positioned for the next phase of growth amid growing demand across the alternative investments space.”

“We are pleased to announce this transaction with Bridge, which is highly aligned with Apollo’s strategic focus on expanding our origination base in areas of our business that are growing but not yet at scale,” said David Sambur, Apollo partner and co-head of equity. “Led by a respected real estate team including Executive Chairman Bob Morse and CEO Jonathan Slager, Bridge brings a seasoned team with deep expertise and a strong track record in their sectors. Their business will complement and further augment our existing real estate capabilities, and we believe we can help scale Bridge’s products by leveraging the breadth of our integrated platform. We look forward to working with Bob and the talented Bridge team as we seek to achieve the strategic objectives we laid out at our recent Investor Day.”

Under the terms of the transaction, at closing, Bridge stockholders will receive 0.07081 shares of Apollo stock for each share of Bridge Class A common stock, valued by the parties at $11.50 per share.

The parties said Bridge will operate as a standalone platform within Apollo’s asset management business, retaining its existing brand, management team and dedicated capital formation team. Morse will become an Apollo partner and lead Apollo’s real estate equity franchise.