Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP advised Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc., a publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT, in connection with its agreement to acquire Southern Realty Trust Inc. (“SRT”), an affiliated private commercial mortgage REIT.  The merger agreement provides that SRT stockholders will receive a mix of cash and stock consideration.  The transaction would consolidate two transitional CRE lenders focused on the Southern U.S. into a single public company, with expected combined assets of approximately $534 million.

The Hunton team was led by M&A partner Steven Haas, real estate capital markets practice head Rob Smith, and tax partner Kendal Sibley. The team also included corporate lawyers Field Daniel, Kate Saltz, and David McDonald; tax counsel Allison Stelter and associate Sarah Colborn; real estate counsel Katherin Pickens; and employee benefits/executive compensation partner Robert Cipolla.