STELLARTON, NS, Aug. 4 /CNW/ – Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust ("Crombie") (TSX: CRR.UN) announced today that it has closed the previously announced public unit offering, on a bought deal basis of 2,670,000 units to the public at a price of $11.05 per unit for gross proceeds of $29.5 million.
In addition to the issue of the public units, in satisfaction of its pre-emptive right with respect to the public unit offering, ECL Developments Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A)) has purchased 1,855,000 Class B LP Units of Crombie Limited Partnership and the attached Special Voting Units of Crombie at the $11.05 per unit offering price, for gross proceeds of $20.5 million, on a private placement basis.
Each Class B LP Unit is exchangeable for one unit of Crombie at the option of the holder. Upon exchange of a Class B LP Unit, the associated Special Voting Unit is cancelled. All securities issued under the private placement are subject to a four month hold period from the closing date of the private placement. As a result of the closing of the public offering and the private placement, Empire now holds a 47.0% economic and voting interest in Crombie.
The combined gross proceeds from the Unit and Exchangeable LP Unit issuance total $50 million.
Crombie intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund in part the previously announced 11 property portfolio acquisition from Sobeys, additional acquisitions to be completed later in 2010 and for general trust purposes.
The underwriting syndicate was co-led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and TD Securities Inc. and also includes Scotia Capital Inc., BMO Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., Beacon Securities Ltd., Raymond James Ltd. and Jennings Capital Inc.
About Crombie
Crombie is an open-ended real estate investment trust established under, and governed by, the laws of the Province of Ontario. The trust invests in income-producing retail, office and mixed-use properties in Canada, with a future growth strategy focused primarily on the acquisition of retail properties. Crombie currently owns a portfolio of 118 commercial properties in seven provinces, comprising approximately 11.5 million square feet of rentable space. More information about Crombie can be found at www.crombiereit.com.
This news release may contain forward looking statements that reflect the current expectations of management of Crombie about Crombie's future results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "continue", "may", "will", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions have been used to identify these forward looking statements. These statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected use of proceeds of the offering and the expected closing date of the offering, and reflect current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management of Crombie. Forward looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors, including those discussed in the Risk Management section of Crombie's fiscal 2009 management's discussion and analysis, and of Crombie's management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, and in the "Risks" section of Crombie's annual information form in respect of the year ended December 31, 2009, could cause actual results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and a reader should not place undue reliance on the forward looking statements. There can be no assurance that the expectations of management of Crombie will prove to be correct.
Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Crombie can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.
Additional information relating to Crombie can be found on Crombie's web site at www.crombiereit.com or on the SEDAR web site for Canadian regulatory filings at www.sedar.com.
Contact: Mr. Glenn Hynes, C.A., Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, Crombie REIT, (902) 755-8100