By Dees Stribling for BizNow
Retail REIT Whitestone rejected a recent proposal by Erez Asset Management Chairman Bruce Schanzer to sell Whitestone assets or liquidate the company. The REIT announced the rejection in a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Erez is a Whitestone stockholder.
Schanzer’s proposal “demand[ed] majority change in our Board of Trustees with the sole purpose of embarking on an immediate sale or liquidation of Whitestone, without regard for maximizing long-term value for shareholders,” Whitestone said in a press release Wednesday.
In his November proposal, Schanzer compared Whitestone’s situation to that of Cedar Realty Trust, where he was formerly CEO. In that role, he oversaw the sale of the company and its assets in 2022, a deal he asserted produced a 70% return for its shareholders over the course of less than a year.
In his letter, Schanzer proposed a “well-ordered unwind” that would involve the sale of assets or the company in its entirety. Schanzer didn’t respond to a request for further comment on Wednesday morning from Bisnow.
