The apartment sector continued its record run, reflected in the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) newly released 2017 NMHC 50 – the authoritative ranking of the nation’s largest apartment owners, manager, developers, general contractors, and, new this year, syndicators.

MAA (headquartered in Memphis, Tenn.) is the country’s largest apartment owner, with 99,393 apartment homes owned. Propelling MAA to the top of the list was its acquisition of Post Properties and its 24,000 apartments.

Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) remained the largest apartment manager, with 415,634 apartments under management.

Greystar Real Estate Partners also jumped to the top of the apartment developers list this year through its 7,623 apartments started in 2016.

Alliance Residential Company (headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz.) retained its spot as the nation’s top general contractor for the second year in a row, starting 6,933 apartments in 2016.

Alden Torch Financial (headquartered in Denver, Colo.) is the country’s largest apartment syndicator with 183,456 apartments syndicated.

“Whether it’s rent growth, occupancy or absorptions, key industry metrics continued to show 2016 as one of the strongest years on record for the apartment industry,” said Mark Obrinsky, NMHC’s Senior Vice President of Research and Chief Economist. “Any way you slice it, last year was a tremendous one for multifamily.”

Additional industry and NMHC 50 highlights:

• 9.1 million – Growth in renter households over the past decade, according to the Census Bureau.
• 1,992,700 – Number of units owned in the NMHC 50 ownership list, representing 9.6 percent of the total apartment stock in the U.S.
• 3,177,852 – Number of units managed in the NMHC 50 management list, an all-time high and a 4.3 percent growth over last year.
• 96.2 percent – Occupancy rate in 2016, the highest since 2000, according to MPF Research.
• 311,700 – Number of apartments completed in 2016, according to the Census Bureau.
• 289,025 – Absorptions of apartments, which is 87 percent higher than historical average, according to MPF Research.
• $159.4 billion – Total transaction volume for 2016, a new record according to Real Capital Analytics.

NMHC partners with Kingsley Associates, a leading real estate research and consulting firm for the NMHC 50’s research and analysis. All apartment owners, managers, developers, general contractors and syndicators are invited to answer a survey questionnaire that asks about their prior year activities. Apartment owners, managers and syndicators are ranked based on their portfolio holdings (either owned or managed) as of January 1, 2017, while developers and general contractors are ranked based on the number of units started in 2016.

For more details about the NMHC 50, visit www.nmhc.org/The-NMHC-50

MAA (NYSE: MAA) and Post Properties, Inc. (NYSE: PPS) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Post Properties, Inc. will merge with and into MAA, creating a Sunbelt-focused, publicly traded, multifamily REIT with enhanced capabilities to deliver superior value for residents, shareholders and employees. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $12 billion and a total market capitalization of approximately $17 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Post common stock will be converted into 0.71 shares of newly issued MAA common stock. On a pro forma basis, following the merger, former MAA equity holders will hold approximately 67.7 percent of the combined company's equity, and former Post equity holders will hold approximately 32.3 percent. The all-stock merger is intended to be a tax-deferred transaction. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of the approval of a majority of both the MAA and Post shareholders. The parties currently expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2016.

The merger brings together two highly complementary multifamily portfolios with a combined asset base consisting of approximately 105,000 multifamily units in 317 properties. The combined company will maintain strategic diversity across urban and suburban locations in large and secondary markets within the high-growth Sunbelt region of the U.S. The combined company's ten largest markets by unit count will be Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Worth, Houston and Washington, DC.

Commenting on the merger, H. Eric Bolton, Jr., MAA Chairman and CEO, said, "The combination of MAA and Post will establish the leading apartment real estate platform focused on the high-growth Sunbelt region of the country with significant competitive advantages to drive superior value for our shareholders, residents and employees.  The combined company will capture a broader market and submarket footprint, with improved rental price-point diversification that will support an enhanced level of performance over the full real estate cycle.  Further, the Post development platform, with a strong history of value accretive new development, supported by the newly combined company platform, will expand external growth and accretive capital recycling opportunities for MAA." 

Said David P. Stockert, Post's CEO and President, "This merger redefines the combined company in terms of product, capability and capacity for consistent growth.  Its unique position in the apartment REIT space and strength of its financial position should drive an advantageous cost of capital and value for shareholders of both companies.  Post shareholders are receiving an attractive value for our assets and business and a 24 percent increase in the dividend, while preserving the continuing opportunity to participate in the combined company's ongoing success."

Leadership and Organization 
Both the Board of Directors of MAA and Board of Directors of Post have unanimously approved the merger. The number of directors on MAA's Board of Directors will be increased to 13, of which 3 directors will be designated by Post from its existing Board of Directors and appointed to the MAA Board. H. Eric Bolton, Jr., MAA's CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, will serve as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the combined company. Alan B. Graf, Jr. will continue to serve as Lead Independent Director for the combined company.  

Upon completion of the merger, the company will retain the MAA name and will trade under the ticker symbol MAA (NYSE). Following the closing of the transaction, the combined company's corporate headquarters will be located in Memphis, TN with the company also maintaining a significant presence inAtlanta, GA and Dallas, TX, including management and resources supporting new development operations.   

Anticipated Synergies 
Annual gross synergies are estimated to be approximately $20 million. The combined company is expected to benefit from the elimination of duplicative costs associated with supporting a public company platform.  In addition, through enhanced scale and leveraging of the combined company's state-of-the-art technology and operating systems, MAA expects the combined company to capture enhanced operating margins. These savings and enhancements are expected to be realized upon full integration, which is expected to occur over the 12-month period following the closing of the merger.

Pro Forma Operations and Balance Sheet
Both companies have high quality properties diversified across the high-growth Sunbelt region. On a consolidated basis the company will have a strong and balanced presence in both large and select secondary markets. With a significant regional and market overlap, meaningful opportunity for synergy and margin improvement is expected. The combined company is committed to a strategy aimed at driving superior long-term shareholder performance with a full-cycle performance profile and objective.  In addition, the combined company is expected to have significant liquidity, a strong investment-grade balance sheet and a well-staggered debt maturity profile provided by long-standing lending partners.

Dividend Policy and Declaration 
The timing of the pre-closing dividends of MAA and Post will be coordinated such that, if one set of shareholders receives their dividend for a particular quarter prior to the closing of the merger, the other set of shareholders will also receive their dividend for such quarter prior to the closing of the merger.

Advisors 
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as financial advisor, and Goodwin Procter LLP and Bass, Berry & Sims are acting as legal advisors to MAA. JP Morgan is acting as financial advisor, and King & Spalding is acting as legal advisor to Post.

Conference Call and Webcast 
The companies will host a conference call on Monday, August 15, 2016 at 7:30am CDT to discuss the proposed merger. Participants will include MAA's CEO and Post's CEO. The conference call-in number is (888)-632-3384 (Domestic); or 785-424-1675 (International) or interested parties can join the live webcast of the conference call by accessing the Investor Relations section of each company's website athttp://ir.maac.com or at http://www.postproperties.com/investor.

A transcript of the call and the conference call replay will be posted when available on the respective companies' websites under the Investor Relations sections.