Jonathan Keehner, companion at Joele Frank, sat down for a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2026 Instructional Convention in Hollywood, Florida, March 24-26.
As M&A exercise picks up throughout the REIT sector, Keehner mentioned profitable transactions more and more hinge on how clearly firms talk their technique, not simply how offers are structured. He warned that weak rollout plans can rapidly create openings for activist buyers or competing bidders.
“You solely get one probability at a primary impression,” Keehner mentioned, noting that “if communications aren’t executed effectively on day one in all rolling out a transaction, the probabilities of an intruder (and) the probabilities of agitation are a lot larger.”
He pointed to rising stress from large-cap REIT consumers, various asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, and specialised activist buyers, all of whom are intently watching the sector. In lots of circumstances, he mentioned, firms fail to obviously clarify why a transaction delivers the perfect final result for shareholders.
Keehner additionally mentioned how the shrinking conventional media panorama has modified company communications. After careers in funding banking and journalism at shops together with The Wall Avenue Journal, Reuters, and Bloomberg, he mentioned REITs want each sturdy media relationships and direct communication channels.
“There’s a lot extra that you are able to do to inform your story away from the standard medium,” he mentioned, citing social media, shareholder engagement, and proprietary content material channels.
For smaller and mid-cap REITs particularly, Keehner pressured that proactive governance, shareholder outreach, and clear storytelling may help firms keep away from turning into susceptible targets.
