Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) has agreed to acquire all remaining units of European Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (ERES). The deal is priced at $1.19 per unit in cash. This transaction values ERES at roughly $441 million when including debt and units already held by CAPREIT.

The agreement concludes a strategic review by ERES to increase value for its investors. Since 2024, the trust has paid out €1.90 per unit in special distributions. When combined with this new cash offer, the total return reaches approximately $4.15 per unit. This represents a 32 per cent increase over the unit price on 6 November 2024.

The ERES Board and a Special Committee of independent trustees have approved the deal. They recommend that public unitholders vote in favour of the move. BMO Capital Markets and Haywood Securities provided fairness opinions for the proposal. Haywood valued the units between $1.05 and $1.25 each.

“We are pleased with the outcome of ERES’s final strategic review, which reflects the culmination of a disciplined, multi-year wind-down focused on prudent financial management and value maximization,” commented Jenny Chou, Chief Financial Officer of ERES. “Consistent with those principles, this all-cash Transaction enables the efficient return of remaining capital to Public ERES Unitholders, and brings our mandate to an orderly and definitive close.”

The deal will proceed as a statutory plan of arrangement. It requires approval from two thirds of the total votes cast and a simple majority of minority unitholders. CAPREIT currently holds a 65 per cent interest in the trust. A meeting to vote on the matter is expected in April 2026.

“The strategic review was thorough and comprehensive, with all proposals for ERES’s residual portfolio carefully evaluated,” added Ira Gluskin, Chair of the Special Committee of ERES. “Following this process, the Special Committee, together with its independent financial advisors, determined that this Transaction achieves a fair consideration that optimizes value for all ERES Unitholders, and therefore represents the most compelling path to the conclusion of ERES’s dissolution. As such, the Special Committee unanimously recommends its approval.”

“This Transaction marks a natural and constructive ending to ERES, after several successful years of diligent, well-executed downsizing,” said Stephen Co, Chief Financial Officer of CAPREIT. “By taking ERES private, CAPREIT can determine the future of the remaining assets in alignment with its long-term objectives, while providing Public ERES Unitholders with a timely and certain all-cash exit. We believe this outcome delivers an ideal resolution for both ERES and CAPREIT unitholders alike.”

The transaction should close in the second quarter of 2026. After closing, ERES units will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.