American Assets Trust Offers Biggest IPO by REIT in a Year at 20% Discount

American Assets Trust Inc. raised $564 million in the largest U.S. initial public offering of a real estate investment trust in more than a year.

The owner of properties from San Francisco to Honolulu sold 27.5 million shares at $20.50 each, after offering 25 million for $19 to $21 each, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The sale was the biggest for a U.S. REIT since Greenwich, Connecticut- based Starwood Property Trust Inc. raised $932 million in August 2009. The San Diego-based real estate trust begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow under the ticker AAT.

American Assets completed the first U.S. initial offering of 2011 after more than half the IPOs by REITs last year left buyers with losses. That compares with a 23 percent average gain for all newly listed companies in 2010, the data show. Barclays Plc of London estimates U.S. initial sales will raise $50 billion this year, an increase of 34 percent.

Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte, North Carolina, Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco and New York-based Morgan Stanley led the offering for American Assets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lee Spears in New York at lspears3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Hauck at dhauck1@bloomberg.net.