By Allen Kenney

Two more REITs penned deals as 2007 came to a close.

Non-traded REIT Boston Capital Real Estate Investment Trust announced in October that it had been acquired by private equity real estate fund manager BPG Properties. BPG paid $13.30 per share—a 33 percent premium over Boston Capital’s original $10 per share offering price—in the cash deal, according to Boston Capital.

In November, commercial real estate specialty finance company Gramercy Capital Corp. (NYSE: GKK) and American Financial Realty Trust announced that they had reached a $3.4 billion merger agreement. Under the terms of the deal, expected to be finalized in early 2008, Gramercy would acquire all shares of American Financial stock at a price of $5.50 per share. American Financial shareholders would also receive approximately 31 percent of Gramercy’s 30.9 million shares outstanding to date. Gramercy would assume all of American Financial’s outstanding debt.

DuPont Fabros Technology Goes Public Data center REIT DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. (NYSE: DFT) hit the New York Stock Exchange in mid-October 2007. DuPont owns, develops, operates and manages data centers around the United States, leasing space to both domestic and international technology companies. Tech industry giants Microsoft and Yahoo! are among those using DuPont’s specialized facilities to house their computer servers. DuPont currently maintains five sites in the area surrounding Washington, D.C., where the company is headquartered. DuPont also owns one facility in Illinois, as well as five more properties in development that are expected to go into service within the next three years. DuPont’s initial public offering of 35.5 million shares of common stock began trading on Oct. 19 at an initial price of $21 per share. The offering had generated nearly $700 million by its closing five days later.