Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP represented ACRES Commercial Realty Corp. (NYSE: ACR) in its proposed acquisition of ACRES Capital Corp. (ACC) in an all-stock transaction (the “Merger”).

In connection with the Merger, ACR will acquire ACRES Capital, LLC—its external manager and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of ACC—and transition from an externally-managed REIT to an internally-managed REIT. ACR is a REIT primarily focused on originating, holding, and managing commercial real estate mortgage loans and may hold equity investments in commercial real estate properties through direct ownership and joint ventures.

The Hunton REIT capital markets team advising on the matter was led by Rob Smith and Tianlu Zhang and also included Kate Saltz, Claire Andress, and Mayme Donohue. The Hunton REIT tax team advising on the matter was led by Kendal Sibley and Allison Stelter and also included Rob Cipolla and Tyler Richardson for employee benefits.

Hunton has extensive experience advising on significant REIT internalization and REIT M&A deals, including in the mortgage REIT space. In 2025, S&P Capital IQ noted that Hunton is the most active law firm advising on mortgage REIT M&A over the past three years.