Archstone Deal Gives High-Growth Units to Zell, AvalonBay

Buying Archstone Inc. will give Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities Inc. apartments in U.S. markets where development is difficult and rents are rising even as growth of the multifamily market slows nationally.

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential, the largest publicly traded U.S. apartment landlord, will acquire about 60 percent of Archstone, and AvalonBay, the second-biggest, will get the rest, the companies said yesterday. The purchase from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., valued at $6.5 billion in cash and stock, will increase the size of Equity Residential’s portfolio by 20 percent and AvalonBay’s by 37 percent.