U.S. investment giant Blackstone, the Public Sector Plan Investment Board (PSP) and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments are in talks to acquire H&R REIT assets, The Globe and Mail reported.

Toronto-based H&R recently announced that it has received several proposals since February to buy all or part of the REIT, which owns multi-residential, industrial, office and retail properties across Canada and the U.S. A special board committee is evaluating the offers with support from bankers and lawyers, though no bidders have been identified.

Meanwhile, K2 & Associates Investment Management is calling for H&R to disclose each bid that it has received.

According to four sources familiar with the process, the Globe reported, large global real estate funds are circling H&R and trying to form a consortium to purchase all or parts of the REIT, which has a $3.2-billion market capitalization.

New York-based Blackstone, a major investor in Canadian apartments and warehouses, is interested in acquiring H&R’s residential and industrial assets, the Globe reported. One source told his interviewer that Blackstone is working with another Wall Street fund, TPG, which also has significant real estate holdings.

H&R previously partnered on its industrial properties with Montreal-based PSP and Toronto-based Crestpoint, the Globe noted.

The Globe’s report states that both PSP and Crestpoint are in talks to join the bid and hope to retain their 50% stake in H&R’s Canadian industrial portfolio and 49.5% share of the U.S. portfolio.

H&R, K2, Blackstone, PSP and Crestpoint have declined to comment on the sales process.

The REIT has warned that the special committee’s process may not result in a transaction.

Toronto-based K2 is a major investor in H&R and led a successful activist push in 2023 to install two trustees on the board.

In a news release, K2 said it is “deeply concerned by the lack of transparency displayed by H&R and its board” regarding received bids

The fund manager added: “Given the REIT’s complex structure, buyers capable of pursuing such a transaction can be hard to come by and K2 would view it as a failure if the board were to fumble this unique opportunity.”

H&R’s unit price surged 17% Friday following its disclosure that takeover talks have been underway since February. In a follow-up release Tuesday, K2 said: “Five months is more than enough time to surface value. Instead of running a transparent process, the board has decided to keep unitholders completely in the dark about potential paths forward.”

The REIT has engaged National Bank Financial and CIBC Capital Markets, along with Fasken Martineau Dumoulin and Blake Cassels & Graydon, to advise on a potential deal. K2 has urged the board “to stop spending fees on external advisers who are not accountable to unitholders.”

K2 backed H&R’s strategy of selling its office and retail assets during its 2023 board campaign. The REIT is still in the process of divesting those holdings, the Globe reported.

H&R is among many REITs that are trying to boost unit prices to align them with asset values. Several REITs have sold assets or explored the possibility of doing so.

Pictured: H&R office buildings in downtown Toronto.

Pictured: H&R REIT industrial property in Mississauga, Ont.

Photo: Colliers