Empire State Building IPO challenge heads to court

Anthony Malkin and the Empire State Building
Anthony Malkin and the Empire State Building

A group of investors opposed to Malkin Holdings’ plan to include the Empire State Building in a $1 billion initial public offering will ask a New York State Supreme Court judge to block the plan by buying the investors out for $100 a share, Bloomberg News reported. 

The proposal is the second-biggest IPO for a real estate investment trust on record, Bloomberg said. The plan secured 94 percent of the votes it needed to move forward earlier this month, as The Real Deal previously reported.

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Judge O. Peter Sherwood will begin hearing arguments from the opponents today. He previously said he would throw out the votes that the Malkin family, which controls Malkin Holdings, has already received if he finds the buyout plan is illegal.

The Malkins have said they would leave voting open until the judge rules on the $100 buyout or until May 2, when the judge is set to hold another hearing on a $55 million settlement that would resolve a proposed class action from investors opposed to the plan. The deal itself has also spurred criticism from some of the building’s investors. [Bloomberg News] –Hayley Kaplan