Denver’s AmeriVest Properties Inc. suspended its dividend for a second consecutive quarter as it continues to explore options that may include selling the company.
The real estate investment trust, or REIT, hired investment bank Bear Stearns & Co. to help it consider strategic options in November.
Since then, the company “has met with a number of potential investors and has received proposals for a broad range of possible transactions,” it said in a statement issued Monday.
Options include lining up institutional investors, selling or recapitalizing some or all of its properties, merging, or selling the company. Board members are evaluating proposals and expect to reach a conclusion “in the near term,” according to the statement.
AmeriVest chief executive Charles Knight was unavailable for comment Monday.
Knight served as the company’s chief operating officer until May, when he replaced CEO William Atkins. Following his promotion, Knight said his aim would be to recapitalize the company to allow it to grow.
AmeriVest purchases office buildings and leases them to small and mid-sized tenants. The company’s market capitalization of $100 million is small for its sector. Based on its market capitalization in late May – then $105 million – AmeriVest was the smallest of 24 office and industrial REITs ranked by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
In Colorado, AmeriVest owns the Centerra building, 1873 S. Bellaire St., Denver; the Kellogg building, 26 W. Dry Creek Circle, Littleton; Panorama Falls Office Building, 9085 E. Mineral Circle, Centennial; Sheridan Center, 1777, 1780 and 1805 S. Bellaire St., Denver; and AmeriVest Plaza at Inverness, 383 and 385 Inverness Parkway, Douglas County.
The company also has properties in Arizona, Indiana and Texas.
Shares of AmeriVest stock gained 2 cents to close at $4.17 Monday.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
