Mack-Cali board ends settlements talks with activist investor Bow Street

Jersey City-based real estate investment trust Mack-Cali Realty has terminated settlement talks with activist shareholder Bow Street, GlobeSt reported. In a statement, Mack-Cali accused the New York-based dissident investor of having a conflict of interest in launching its proxy battle more than a month ago. Bow Street, which owns about 4.5 percent of Mack-Cali stock, had sought the election of four candidates to the REIT’s board of directors. Mack-Cali, which in recent years has shaken up its leadership and revamped its investment strategy, has been busy buying and selling properties in 2019. The company unloaded a $487.5 million office/flex portfolio in Westchester County and paid $264 million to buy Jersey City’s Soho Lofts and an undisclosed sum for an office complex in Iselin. Mack-Cali’s aborted settlement with Bow Street reportedly would have had the REIT set up a committee with four independent directors tasked with evaluating a range of options to maximize shareholder value, including the potential sale of the company and the divestiture of certain assets. Mack-Cali has turned to the law firms Greenberg Traurig and Seyfarth Shaw to advise on its proxy fight with Bow Street, which reportedly has sought to split the company in half. [GlobeSt]