Shares of Forest City soar as Bloomberg reports renewed talk of merger

Shares of Forest City Realty Trust Inc. popped by more than 11% in Monday afternoon trade following a report that the realty company was renewing deal talks with Brookfield Asset Management. According to a Bloomberg article, real estate investment trust Forest City officials are reconsidering a tie-up with Toronto-based Brookfield BAM, -0.24% three months after stating its intention to remain a standalone entity. Citing people familiar, Bloomberg said an offer for Forest City's shares are being discussed in the range of $25 to $25.50 a share. Most recently, Forest City's stock FCE.A, +12.83% was at $22.10, up 10.3%. However, shares of the company are down 8.1% so far in 2018, compared with a roughly 1% year-to-date gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.54% and a 3.7% advance for the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.27% in the first six months of the year, according to FactSet data.