
An offer of nearly $1 billion was made last week for Maguire Properties, the largest office landlord in downtown Los Angeles, but it was apparently withdrawn, according to the WSJ (Bloomberg has a story as well). Maguire's stock shot up on the news, rising as much as 16 percent before falling back later in the day. The offer was made by Pacific Office Properties, which has been in talks to acquire Maguire since mid-April, according to a July 2 letter to the board. Word of the (possible) offer came from Third Point LLC hedge fund, Maguire's fourth-biggest investor, which said in a filing that it could still be revived. But why is all this coming from an investor and not Maguire itself? This time, they can't blame the confusion on Robert Maguire, who was nudged out as chairman and CEO in April - and who was noted for his internecine maneuvers.