Utah real estate investment group acquired by New York firm in $1.5B deal

SANDY — A New York-based asset management firm is swooping in to acquire a growing Utah-based real estate firm in a massive deal that will pull it off the stock market.

Apollo Asset Management announced Monday it entered into a “definitive agreement” to acquire Bridge Investment Group, based in Sandy, in an “all-stock transaction” valued at about $1.5 billion.

“We are pleased to announce this transaction with Bridge, which is highly aligned with Apollo’s strategic focus on expanding our origination base in areas of our business that are growing but not yet at scale,” David Sambur, a partner and co-head of equity for Apollo, said in a statement.

Bridge Investment Group was founded in 2009, focusing on residential and industrial real estate investments. It has since grown to employ more than 300 people. It also had $49.2 billion of assets under management as of September 2024, per a fourth-quarter earning notice published earlier this month.

A fourth-quarter and 2024 earnings report scheduled for Tuesday has since been canceled.

Under the agreement, Bridge stockholders and Bridge OpCo unitholders will receive 0.07081 shares of Apollo stock for “each share of Bridge Class A common stock and each Bridge OpCo Class A common unit, respectively, valued by the parties at $11.50 per each share of Bridge Class A common stock and Bridge OpCo Class A common unit, respectively” once the agreement is finalized, according to Apollo.

The deal is expected to be completed later this year. Once that happens, Bridge will also be pulled off the New York Stock Exchange as it becomes a “standalone platform” under Apollo, the company explained. It will join the over $750 billion in assets the New York company maintains.

Bridge will retain branding and employees, while executive chairman Bob Morse will become an Apollo partner tasked with leading its real estate equity franchise.

“We are proud to be joining Apollo and its industry-leading team, who share our commitment to performance and excellence,” Morse said in a statement, adding that he believes it will allow the company to “pursue meaningful value and impact for our investors and communities.”

Bridge’s portfolio consists of all sorts of properties across the U.S., including the massive Post District that opened in Salt Lake City last year. The project features hundreds of units blended into space for bars, restaurants and offices between downtown and the city’s growing Granary District.

People tour an outdoor patio and pool area between Post District apartment complexes on May 2, 2024. The large mixed-use project is now completed, with over 500 units and multiple business spaces. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)

Nick Gonzalves, the firm’s deputy chief investment officer, explained at the time that the project was the first in the state to utilize “opportunity zones,” which offer investors tax benefits for creating economic growth and jobs in underserved communities or generally abandoned areas.

“It was really Bridge’s founders that were like, ‘If we’re going to do this, we have to go big,'” he said. “The project was exactly what the opportunity zone was designed to do — build a full neighborhood, a pure live/work/play area (and) bring something to where there was nothing.”

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