Announcement • 2h
AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) completed the acquisition of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in a reverse merger transaction.
AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) entered into definitive agreement to acquire Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) for $25.8 billion in a reverse merger transaction on May 20, 2026. Under the terms of the agreement, AvalonBay shareholders will receive 2.793 shares of Equity Residential common stock for each share of AvalonBay common stock owned. Upon closing, AvalonBay shareholders will own approximately 51.2% and Equity Residential shareholders will own approximately 48.8% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. The combined company will have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $52 billion and a total enterprise value of approximately $69 billion, with more than 180,000 rental apartments. The company will operate under a new name to be announced at closing. In case of termination of transaction, Equity Residential will pay a termination fee of $1 billion and AvalonBay Communities, Inc will pay a termination fee of $1.1 billion.
The Board of Trustees will initially consist of 7 existing trustees of Equity Residential and 7 existing directors of AvalonBay. Steve Sterrett, current lead independent trustee of Equity Residential, will serve as Chairman. David Neithercut, current non-Executive Chair of Equity Residential, and Tim Naughton, current non-Executive Chairman of AvalonBay, will each serve as Trustees of the combined company. Benjamin Schall, President and Chief Executive Officer of AvalonBay, will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of the combined company. Mark J. Parrell, who has served as Chief Executive Officer of Equity Residential for eight years and at the company for 27 years, will retire at the transaction close, having built Equity Residential into one of the country's premier apartment companies. The executive leadership team reporting to Schall will consist of Michael Manelis as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Kevin O'Shea as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Matthew Birenbaum as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer; Sean Breslin as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment and Growth Officer; Scott Fenster as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; Pamela Thomas as Executive Vice President, Portfolio and Asset Management; and Alaine Walsh as Executive Vice President, Human Capital and Administration. Additionally, Ted Schulman will serve as Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs during the integration before transitioning to a senior advisor role. The combined company will have dual headquarters in Arlington, VA and Chicago, IL and intends to have a meaningful and ongoing presence in both locations.
The transaction is subject to shareholder approval by both AvalonBay and Equity Residential, registration statement effectiveness(S-4 / F-4), listing / approval of new shares on stock exchange and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The deal has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of AvalonBay and Board of Trustees of Equity Residential. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026. The transaction is expected to be accretive to both AvalonBay and Equity Residential standalone core FFO. As of July 30, 2026, it was announced that Vivmark Residential will be the name of the combined company. Vivmark Residential expects to use VMRK as its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol. As of August 12, 2026, shareholder of AvalonBay and Equity Residential approved the transaction. The merger is expected to close on Monday, August 17, 2026, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. Following the completion of the merger, the combined company will be renamed “Vivmark Residential,” with its common shares expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “VMRK” beginning at the open of trading on August 18, 2026.
Andrew Jonas, Parul Karna and James Kon of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as lead financial advisor and fairness opinion provider to AvalonBay Communities, Inc,will receive a fee of $3 million for opinion rendered and $62 million for advisory services. Blake Liggio, Caitlin Tompkins, Gil Menna, Alexandra Denniston, Audrey Leigh, Brian Lerman, Neal Sandford, Arman Oruc, Caroline Bullerjahn, Elliot Silver, James Adams, Eryn Mathews, and Chris Versfelt of Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to AvalonBay Communities, Inc. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Edward M. Schulman of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as financial advisor to AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Seth Weintrob, Sean Gormley, Eric Rosenblum and Hicham Fassouane of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as lead financial advisor and fairness opinion provider to Equity Residential, will receive a fee of $5 million for opinion rendered and $45 million towards advisory services. Todd P. Kaplan and Tyler H. Brooke of Centerview Partners LLC acted as lead financial advisor to Equity Residential. Adam O. Emmerich, Robin Panovka and Kyle M. Diamond of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP acted as legal advisor to Equity Residential. Scott J. Fenster of BofA Securities, Inc. acted as financial advisor to Equity Residential. Kerry Johnson and Andrew Goodman of Paul Hastings LLP advised Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, serving as lead financial advisor to Equity Residential. MacKenzie Partners, Inc acted as proxy solicitor to Equity Residential and will receive a fee of $0.025 million. Innisfree M&A Incorporated acted as proxy solicitor to AvalonBay Communities, Inc and will receive a fee of $0.04 million. Computershare Trust Company, National Association acted as transfer agent to Equity Residential.
AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) completed the acquisition of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in a reverse merger transaction on August 17, 2026. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. announced the completion of their merger of equals, creating Vivmark Residential (NYSE: VMRK). Vivmark Residential is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol VMRK at the opening of trading on August 18, 2026. Vivmark Residential is now one of the country's leading real estate companies with an equity market capitalization of approximately $51 billion and an enterprise value of approximately $70 billion.
Benjamin Schall serves as Chief Executive Officer, Michael Manelis serves as Chief Operating Officer and Kevin O’Shea serves as Chief Financial Officer. The Board of Trustees consists of 14 trustees, seven from each company, and is led by Stephen Sterrett as Chairman.
The transaction is expected to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Vivmark Residential expects to deliver a current yield to investors through the payment of an initial expected annualized dividend of $2.81 per share.
