Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust Increases its Investment in Carrefour de la Rive-Sud Shopping Centre

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 14, 2012) - Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT) (TSX:REF.UN) announced that it has acquired an additional 25% interest in Carrefour de la Rive-Sud Shopping Centre (the Property) located in Boucherville, Quebec (part of the Greater Montreal Area).

Prior to this transaction, CREIT owned a 50% interest in the Property; therefore, this acquisition increases CREIT's ownership interest to 75%.

The Property is a dominant unenclosed shopping centre located on Montreal's South Shore off Highway 20 just west of Highway 30. Inclusive of space directly owned by retail anchors, the shopping centre is currently comprised of approximately 1.0 million square feet of retail area.

Retailer owned shadow anchors include Ikea (which is currently expanding its store), Costco and Rona, all of which are fully integrated into the shopping centre.

The Property acquired is comprised of approximately 520,000 square feet of leasable area on 53 acres of land (both at 100%). This space is currently 98.3% leased with a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately six years. Tenants include a strong roster of national and regional retailers. CREIT has also acquired an additional 25% interest in the future density (which represents approximately 20,000 square feet of leasable area at 100%).

The purchase price of $41.8 million (prior to the mark-to-market adjustment referred to below) was partially satisfied by the assumption of $15.9 million of existing mortgage debt, carrying an interest rate of 6.2% and a term to maturity of 4.0 years. A mark-to-market adjustment (in favour of CREIT) was made on closing in respect of the assumed debt. The balance of the purchase price was funded with cash on hand and through CREIT's bank facility.

Adam Paul, Executive Vice President, Investments and Leasing of CREIT said "We are pleased to increase our investment in this exceptional retail asset. Notwithstanding a very competitive acquisitions environment, we have now successfully added approximately $355 million of high quality income-producing real estate to our portfolio in 2012. In addition, our development program continues to gain significant traction and is progressing very well."

Carrefour de la Rive-Sud is a good example of the acquisition pipeline that CREIT has created through strategic relationships with existing partners, including North American Development Group, CREIT's partner and the developer of the Property.

CREIT is a real estate investment trust focused on accumulating a portfolio of high-quality real estate assets and delivering the benefits of real estate ownership to Unitholders. The primary benefit is a reliable and, over time, increasing cash distribution.

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