Bridge Agrees To Go Private In $1.5 Bln Deal With Apollo, Q4 Loss Narrows; Stock Surges

Bridge Investment Group a

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(RTTNews) - Shares of Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (BRDG) were surging around 34 percent in the pre-market activity on the NYSE after the company announced Monday an agreement to be bought by Apollo Global Management, Inc.(APO) in an all-stock transaction with an equity value of around $1.5 billion. Further, the company reported narrower net loss in its fourth quarter with increased revenues.

Bridge also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share of Class A common stock, payable on March 28 to stockholders of record on March 14.

In the deal, Bridge stockholders and Bridge OpCo unitholders will receive, at closing, 0.07081 shares of Apollo stock for each share of Bridge Class A common stock and each Bridge OpCo Class A common unit, respectively. The deal is valued by the parties at $11.50 per each share of Bridge Class A common stock and Bridge OpCo Class A common unit, respectively.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Apollo's fee-related earnings upon closing.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Subject to and upon completion of the transaction, shares of Bridge common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Bridge will become a privately held company.

Bridge manages approximately $50 billion of high-quality AUM in real estate products targeting both institutional and wealth clients. The transaction would be highly synergistic with Apollo's existing real estate equity strategies.

Bridge will provide Apollo with immediate scale to its real estate equity platform and enhance its origination capabilities in both real estate equity and credit.

Upon the closing of the transaction, Bridge will operate as a standalone platform within Apollo's asset management business, retaining its existing brand. Executive Chairman Bob Morse will become an Apollo Partner and lead Apollo's real estate equity franchise.

In its fourth quarter, Bridge's net loss attributable to the company was $4.05 million, compared to prior year's loss of $4.33 million.

Loss per share was $0.15, narrower than loss of $0.20 per share a year ago.

Fee Related Earnings to the Operating Company were $34.4 million, compared to $28.5 million last year.

Distributable Earnings of the Operating Company were $32.6 million or $0.18 per share, compared to $25.3 million last year.

Total revenues climbed to $103.8 million from $94.13 million last year.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Bridge shares were trading at $10.64, up 34.34%.