Partners Real Estate Investment Trust to Acquire Five New Montreal Retail Properties

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA January 17, 2013 – Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: PAR.UN) (“Partners REIT”) announced today that it had entered into agreements with separate vendors to acquire four newly-constructed, necessity-based, open-air retail centres and one stabilized retail centre in the Greater Montreal region totaling approximately 286,500 square feet of gross leasable area (the “Properties”). The Properties have an overall economic occupancy of 93.3% with nearly 50% of the floor space and income generated by national and regional tenants on long-term leases. The tenant roster of the Properties includes three grocery stores, two drug stores, two SAQ stores and three Tim Hortons stores, all on long-term leases.

The REIT will pay approximately $78.5 million for the five properties, satisfied by $48.4 million in new mortgages incurring a weighted average interest rate of approximately 3.7%, with the balance in cash from the REIT’s recently completed bought deal equity offering and its credit facility. The five properties are estimated to generate annualized Net Operating Income of approximately $4.85 million and $2.70 million in annualized Funds from Operations. These transactions are expected to close in the month of February, 2013.

“These combined transactions mark one of our larger aggregate acquisitions to date with the properties providing extremely strong tenancies and stable long-term cash flow. These acquisitions also significantly strengthen our presence in the vibrant Greater Montreal Region,” commented Patrick Miniutti, President. “Importantly, these properties consist predominantly of brand-new retail formats that will attract both tenants and consumers to the properties.”

“Looking ahead, we believe we will enhance cash flows at these new properties as we complete the leasing on the newly-completed properties and capture all available operating synergies and economies of scale from our growing Quebec portfolio.”

About Partners REIT

Partners REIT is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust, which currently owns (directly or indirectly) 33 retail properties, well-located in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, aggregating approximately 2.3 million square feet of leasable space. Partners REIT focuses on expanding and managing a portfolio of retail and mixed-use community and neighbourhood shopping centres located in both primary and secondary markets across Canada.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those identified by the expressions "expect," "will" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to Partners REIT. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect Partners REIT's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including access to capital, regulatory approvals, intended acquisitions and general economic and industry conditions. Although Partners REIT believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Net operating income (“NOI”) and funds from operations (“FFO”) are non-IFRS measures often used by Canadian real estate investment trusts as measures of operating performance. NOI and FFO are presented herein because management believes these non-IFRS measures are relevant measures of the operating performance of the REIT.

For further information:

Partners REIT:
Patrick Miniutti, President and Chief Operating Officer (250) 940-5500