Shares of Veris Residential Inc. VRE, +17.07% soared 19.6% toward a two-month high in premarket trading Friday, after the real estate investment trust focused on multifamily properties confirmed that it received an unsolicited buyout bid from Kushner Companies. Veris said the bid was for $16 a share, which is 28.8% above Thursday’s closing price of $12.42 and implies a market capitalization of $1.46 billion. Kushner Cos. is the real-estate company of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Trump. Veris said it is evaluating the bid and will respond “in due course.” Kushner Cos. said late Thursday that it its attempts at “fruitful engagement” with Veris’s board of directors over the last several months have been ignored despite the “serious operational issues” facing the company. Veris’s stock, which closed Thursday 19.8% above the Oct. 7 record low of $10.37, has tumbled 32.4% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF XLRE, -1.22% has dropped 33.6% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.36% has lost 23.1%.
