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Smart home technology company SmartRent.com Inc. announced on Thursday its intentions to go public via a merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp.
The merger values SmartRent, whose products service approximately 185,000 apartments in the U.S. and Canada, at $2.2 billion. In February, Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp. raised about $345 million in its initial public offering (IPO), which was sponsored by venture-capital firm Fifth Wall Ventures. The firm had also invested in SmartRent back in 2020 through one of its funds.
Earlier this week, Fifth Wall Ventures also announced the debut of its third SPAC, Fifth Wall Acquisition III.
The SPAC has raised about $345 million since going public last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report. SPAC investors will be joined by a $155 million PIPE investment, made up of some of the biggest names in real estate: single-family rental giant Invitation Homes, real-estate investor Starwood Capital, and construction giant Lennar. The Journal is also reporting that world s largest landlord, Blackstone, is part of the deal.
SmartRent combines smart-home technology with a software operating system that allows landlords and property managers of single-family and multifamily portfolios to remotely monitor energy use and efficiency, let prospective tenants take self-guided tours, and monitor building systems for leaks and other risks. Tenants are also able to monitor many of these things themselves through SmartRent s apps and voice assistants.