TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – May 25, 2016) – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (“RioCan”) (TSX:REI.UN) today is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of its U.S. portfolio of 49 retail properties located in the Northeastern U.S. and Texas at a total sale price of US$1.9 billion as previously announced on December 18, 2015. During December 2015, and in connection with the sale of the U.S. operations, RioCan began to implement a hedging strategy that is expected to result in RioCan receiving Canadian dollar net proceeds of approximately $1.2 billion, in line with our original expectations.
“We are pleased to have completed this very large and involved sale process, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank our staff in the U.S. and Canada that were involved in the closing process led by Jonathan Gitlin, RioCan’s Senior Vice President, Investments, as well as our advisors. I would also like to thank the team at Blackstone for their co-operation and professionalism throughout this transaction,” said Edward Sonshine Chief Executive Officer of RioCan. “With the sale completed we can now completely focus on our Canadian operations, development and redevelopment portfolio and begin to put the net sale proceeds to use to create one of the strongest balance sheet profiles for REITs in Canada.”
Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets acted as RioCan’s advisors to the transaction, and Goodmans LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, and Saul Ewing LLP acted as legal advisors to RioCan.
Forward Looking Advisory
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements made in this News Release regarding RioCan’s development program and the intended use of proceeds from the sale transaction, together with other statements concerning RioCan’s objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management’s beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, leverage ratios, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts, including but without limitation to the intended use of proceeds from the sale. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “outlook”, “objective”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “should”, “plan”, “continue”, or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking statements in this News Release are qualified by these cautionary statements.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future events or performance and, by its nature, is based on RioCan’s current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described under “Risks and Uncertainties” in RioCan’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended March 31, 2016 (“MD&A”) and the Trust’s most recent Annual Report and Annual Information Form, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained in this News Release. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to: liquidity and general market conditions; tenant concentrations and related risk of bankruptcy or restructuring (and the terms of any bankruptcy or restructuring proceeding), defaults, including the failure to fulfill contractual obligations by the tenant or a related party thereof; retailer competition; access to debt and equity capital; interest rate and financing risk; joint ventures and partnerships; the relative illiquidity of real property; development risk associated with construction commitments, project costs and related approvals; environmental matters and property management. Although the forward looking information contained in this News Release is based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Certain statements included in this News Release may be considered “financial outlook” for purposes of applicable securities laws, and such financial outlook may not be appropriate for purposes other than this News Release.
The Income Tax Act (Canada) contains provisions which potentially impose tax on publicly traded trusts (the SIFT Provisions). However, the SIFT Provisions do not impose tax on a publicly traded trust which qualifies as a REIT. RioCan currently qualifies as a real estate investment trust for Canadian tax purposes and intends to qualify for future years. Should this not occur, certain statements contained in this News Release may need to be modified.
Except as required by applicable law, RioCan undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About RioCan
RioCan is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust with a total enterprise value of approximately $16 billion as at March 31, 2016. RioCan owns and manages Canada’s largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 303 Canadian retail and mixed use properties, including 16 properties under development, containing an aggregate net leasable area of 46 million square feet. For further information, please refer to RioCan’s website at www.riocan.com.
Cynthia J. Devine
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and Corporate Secretary
(647) 253-4973
www.riocan.com