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Equity Residential Declares Special Cash Dividend of $3 per Share


September 14, 2016


CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Equity Residential (EQR) announced today that its Board of Trustees has declared a special cash dividend of $3 per common share which will be paid on October 14, 2016 to shareholders of record on September 26, 2016.

“This distribution will bring the total capital returned to our shareholders in 2016 to more than $4 billion, the largest amount ever paid in the real estate sector,” said David J. Neithercut, Equity Residential’s President and CEO. “The return of this capital following the sale of non-core assets, which produced an Unlevered Internal Rate of Return of 11.8%, is a sound capital allocation decision and positions Equity Residential with a portfolio of properties in high density coastal markets that will produce superior, long-term risk adjusted returns for our shareholders.”

The Company today also announced that its Board of Trustees declared quarterly dividends on the Company’s common and preferred shares. A regular common share dividend for the third quarter of $0.50375 per share will be paid on October 14, 2016 to shareholders of record on September 26, 2016.

A quarterly dividend of $1.03625 per share will be paid on September 30, 2016 to shareholders of record on September 16, 2016 of the Company’s Series K Preferred Shares.

For a definition of Unlevered Internal Rate of Return, please see the Company’s Second Quarter 2016 earnings release dated July 26, 2016.

Equity Residential is an S&P 500 company focused on the acquisition, development and management of high quality apartment properties in top U.S. growth markets. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 306 properties consisting of 78,181 apartment units. For more information on Equity Residential, please visit our website at www.equityapartments.com.