AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential have completed their merger of equals, creating Vivmark Residential, a rental housing giant with approximately $70 billion of enterprise value and $51 billion of equity market capitalization. Vivmark is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VMRK on August 18.
The combined company owns more than 184,000 rental apartments and has more than 11,100 additional apartments under construction.
Former AvalonBay shareholders will own approximately 51% of Vivmark on a fully diluted basis, while former Equity Residential shareholders will own approximately 49%.
Each outstanding AvalonBay share was converted into the right to receive 2.793 shares of the combined company.
Vivmark enters the market with approximately $4.4 billion of projects under construction across 33 communities.
The company also has approximately $4.2 billion of development rights representing another roughly 9,900 future apartment homes.
Management plans to use increased scale, technology, centralized services and data analytics to improve operating efficiency.
The company’s expanded proprietary dataset includes more than 4 million lease transaction data points, more than 9 million service request data points and more than 60 million customer insight data points.
Vivmark expects more than $2 billion of annual cash flow and leverage-neutral self-funding capacity, providing capital for development, acquisitions and other investments.
The combined company also expects more than $2 billion of common dividends in 2026 and plans an initial annualized dividend of $2.81 per share.
Benjamin Schall serves as CEO, Michael Manelis is COO and Kevin O’Shea is CFO.
Stephen Sterrett chairs the 14-member board, which includes seven trustees from each legacy company.
Vivmark also plans to expand affordable housing initiatives. Approximately 7,200 affordable apartments are currently spread across 30% of its communities, while about half of projects in its broader development program include affordable or mixed-income components.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our vision is to be the most trusted and best-performing rental housing company in America and one that gets better as it grows. That means homes that residents love, communities that improve people’s lives, a company that consistently compounds shareholder value, and a workplace where talented people do their best work.”
“Our wider management team of Vivmark officers is now fully in place, and we are ready to deliver a seamless Day 1 experience for our residents.”
Benjamin Schall, Chief Executive Officer of Vivmark Residential
“Vivmark represents a transformational opportunity to redefine the rental housing industry, utilizing our scale and capabilities to deliver superior value for shareholders. Our leadership team has united as one, positioning the platform for strength from Day 1.”
Stephen Sterrett, Chairman of Vivmark Residential
