BY DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN

World Education Services has re-inked its lease at 1 Battery Park Plaza for another 10 years, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The non-profit, which serves as an international credential evaluation service for international students and job seekers, will continue to occupy its third-floor space at a healthy 26,000 square feet.

CBRE’s Bruce Surry and Patrick Dugan represented World Education Services in the deal. Gene Baumstein of Rudin Management Company, the landlords of 1 Battery Park Plaza, represented the firm in-house.

The asking rent was $42-a-square-foot.

World Education Service, which had been at the building since 2003, was not due to renew its lease for another year-and-a-half but decided to re-up its tenancy at 1 Battery Park Plaza for another 10 years, said Mr. Baumstein.

To read the full story, click here.

BY DANIEL GEIGER

Every August, the Manhattan real estate industry grinds to a near standstill. Yet, even during these summer doldrums, which have seemed quieter in the face of economic and political uncertainty cast by November’s presidential election, big time dealmaking is quietly percolating.

Eastdil Secured finally put Worldwide Plaza up for bid last week after months of speculation the 1.8 million-square-foot office tower would be offered for sale.

Sources told The Commercial Observer that Eastdil executives Adam Spies and Doug Harmon, who are marketing the property for its owners, a group led by the investment firm George Comfort & Sons, were delayed in bringing the property to an open auction because they were considering off-market offers for the 59-story tower.

To read the full story, click here.

BY CARL GAINES

M&T Bank said Monday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hudson City Bancorp for $3.7 billion in stock and cash. The acquisition will see Hudson City merge into an M&T subsidiary—giving M&T access to 135 new branch locations in New Jersey, New York and Fairfield County, Conn. The deal would make for the largest bank merger of 2012 so far.

The boards of directors of each bank have approved the merger, which is now pending regulatory approval and approval by the shareholders of each company.

According to an investor presentation about the merger available online, the merger will greatly diversify Hudson City’s monoline residential mortgage focus—99 percent of its portfolio as of June 30, 2012. It will create a pro forma commercial real estate platform of $17.9 billion, providing the biggest boost for M&T, however, in the area of residential mortgages.

“M&T, which was established in 1856, and Hudson City, founded in 1868, have been serving their customers and communities for generations, and we look forward to building on that long history and tradition together in the future,” M&T Chairman and CEO Robert Wilmers said in a prepared statement about the merger.

To read the full story, click here.