Real Estate
NYSE suspends Elme Communities shares over 'abnormally low' price as the liquidating apartment REIT heads to OTC trading
The Bethesda-based landlord, which has sold every property and paid $16.41 a share in liquidating distributions, will not appeal and plans to dissolve on November 6.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
The New York Stock Exchange halted trading in Elme Communities on Friday and began delisting proceedings, using its discretion under Section 802.01D of its Listed Company Manual on the grounds of an "abnormally low" selling price, the company said in a statement issued at 5:47 p.m. ET. The suspension came on October 23, the day Elme's shares went ex-dividend for a $1.74-a-share special liquidating distribution that was paid on October 22.
Elme said it will not appeal because it is already being wound up under a plan of sale and liquidation that its board approved in July 2025 and shareholders backed in October 2025. The shares are expected to start trading over the counter on Monday, October 26, under the symbol ELMES, though the company cautioned that an active OTC market may not develop. The schedule set out in September had envisaged a last NYSE trading day of November 5.
The rest of the timetable is unchanged. Transfer books are due to close at the end of business on November 5, and Elme expects to dissolve on November 6, moving its remaining assets and liabilities, mainly cash from property sales, into a Maryland liquidating trust with FTI Consulting providing a liquidating trustee. Shareholders will receive non-transferable trust interests in proportion to their holdings, and their shares will be cancelled. In September the company put estimated wind-down costs and known liabilities at about $23.3 million and set aside a further $9.5 million or so for overruns or unknown claims.
For event-driven funds and other holders, the payout is close to final. The $1.74 brings cumulative liquidating distributions to $16.41 a share, including $14.67 paid in January, which is the bottom of the $16.41 to $16.61 range Elme gave in July. That range had itself been cut from $16.74 to $17.02 in May, largely because Riverside Apartments sold for $250.0 million. Any further cash depends on how much of the reserve is left once the trust settles its liabilities; the timing and amount are up to the trustee, and Elme has given no estimate. The company also lists possible litigation over its sale of 19 apartment properties to a Cortland Partners affiliate as a risk to remaining distributions.