Quiet Period
Wells REIT is in the quiet period before its IPO and cannot respond to Friday's Wall Street Journal article (link below). This is too bad. I did a cursory review of the tender offers by Lexington and but did not see the one that article referred too - an offer to purchase the entire REIT for two prices, one price with the management company and a higher price without the management company. The offers I saw were for small portions of the REIT, generally in 25 million share increments.

Here is the relevant, to me, part of the article:

What Wells REIT directors didn't disclose was that at least one potential suitor offered to buy Wells REIT, and the offer would have been more lucrative to Wells shareholders if the fund didn't buy Mr. Wells's management companies.

That buyout offer came earlier this year from Lexington Realty Trust, a publicly traded REIT, which offered to buy Wells REIT for one of two prices, depending on whether Wells REIT bought out Mr. Wells's companies. If Wells REIT didn't buy Mr. Wells's companies, the offer was $9.45 a share; if it did buy the companies, the offer was $9.07 a share. The latter offer was lower because there would be more shares outstanding if Wells REIT bought the management companies.

Wells REIT directors rebuffed Lexington's offer and didn't tell shareholders about it.

I will try to find out more information but it will be difficult in the quiet period.