In the end, months of contentious lawsuits, investor squabbles and multiple bids to purchase the Empire State Building didn’t stop Peter and Tony Malkin and the Empire State Realty Trust from going public.
The company’s shares began trading its initial public offering, 71,500,000 shares of Class A common stock, at $13 on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol “ESRT.”
The public offering allows the Malkins to consolidate the buildings they control throughout Manhattan and in Stamford, Connecticut, with the offering valuing their stake at about $460 million.
Last month the father/son team assured investors that they planned to move ahead with the offering in a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, despite a string of unsolicited offers made over the course of the last several months to buy the storied tower, as well as separate offer for the second largest building in the then proposed REIT.
The stock stood at $13.33 per share as of press time.
