Real estate investment trust (REIT) Invesco Mortgage Capital (IVR) priced its public offering of 9m shares at $20.75 per share, for gross proceeds of $186.75m. The REIT plans to use the net proceeds to buy residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities (RMBS and CMBS) and leveraged mortgage loans, as well as for other corporate purposes. Credit Suisse Securities and Morgan Stanley (MS) serve as joint book-running managers on the offering, Invesco said. Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. and JMP Securities serve as co-managers. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.35m additional shares to cover any over-allotments. The offering — announced Friday — is expected to close on or about May 3, 2010, according to a press release. If Invesco sees a repeat of investor interest like that it received earlier this year, the over-allotment is very likely to succeed. The REIT, which went public in June 2009, priced its second offering of 7m shares in January at $21.25 per share, raising an initial $149m with an option for underwriters to purchase up to an additional 1.05m shares to cover any over-allotments. The over-allotment raised more than $22m, bringing gross proceeds to $171m, a strong indication of abundant investor demand. Today’s announcement of the pricing of the REIT’s public offering of shares marks only the latest round of significant investor interest in funding MBS acquisitions. Earlier this week, the investment management arm of the Invesco firm closed its $1.46bn Mortgage Recovery Fund, primarily with commitments from institutional clients. The fund was designed to invest in Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP)-eligible MBS and mortgage-related loans. Write to Diana Golobay. Disclosure: the author holds no relevant investment positions.