TSX SYMBOL: BEI.UN March 30, 2006
Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Closes $66.462 Million Bought Deal Financing and Announces the Acquisition of an Additional 518 Multi-Family Residential Apartment Units in British Columbia and Alberta
Calgary, Alberta – March 30, 2006
- Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust ("BEI.UN" - TSX)
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES
OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY
CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAW./
Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust
(TSX:BEI.UN) ("Boardwalk" or the "REIT")
is pleased to announce that it has
completed its previously announced sale
of 2,915,000 trust units at a price of
$22.80 per trust unit, resulting in gross
proceeds of $66,462,000 to a
syndicate of underwriters led by National
Bank Financial Inc.
Boardwalk intends to use a portion of
the net proceeds of this financing
to repay the outstanding amounts owing
under its acquisition and operating
credit facility. The REIT drew on this
facility to assist in the acquisition
of the previously announced Blouin portfolio
in Quebec, details of which are
provided in the REIT's prospectus dated
March 24, 2006 (the "Prospectus") and
are reproduced below. In addition, the net
proceeds of the financing are also
intended to be used to acquire an additional
518 residential units in British
Columbia and Alberta. Details of these
transactions are also provided in the
Prospectus and are reproduced below. Any
remaining funds from the financing
will be used for general purposes of the
REIT, including capital expenditures
on its existing assets and acquisitions
of additional multi-family properties.
New Property Acquisitions
Blouin Portfolio - St. Laurent
(Montreal), Quebec - A 322 residential
unit portfolio consisting of 3 concrete
construction buildings ranging from 6
to 10 stories in height. The buildings
were built between 1986 and 1988.
Residential units are spacious, with an
average size of 858 sq. ft. across the
portfolio. The project consists of 9
bachelor residential units, 111 one
bedrooms, 165 two bedrooms and 37 three
bedroom residential units. The
portfolio was purchased for an aggregate
of $24 million, representing $74,534
per residential unit or approximately
$87 per sq. ft. The transaction has a
first year cap rate of 7.10% and closed
on March 13, 2006.
Jones Portfolio - Surrey and Coquitlam
(Vancouver), British Columbia - A
238 residential unit portfolio, of which
105 residential units are contained
in three, 3 story walkup buildings in
Coquitlam, and the remaining 133
residential units in three, 3 story walkups
in Surrey. Overall, the portfolio
has a suite mix of 136 two bedroom residential
units and 102 three bedrooms.
Average suite size is 1,022 sq ft per
residential unit, which brings the total
rentable square footage to 243,275 sq ft
for the portfolio. Total
consideration for the purchase was
$17,550,000, representing $73,739 per
residential unit or $72 per sq ft. The
transaction has a first year cap rate
of 6.39% and is expected to close on or
about March 30, 2006.
Sturgeon Point Villas - St. Albert
(Edmonton), Alberta - A single four
story wood frame walkup building encompassing
280 residential units. The
project, which was originally constructed
in 1978, is situated on a 9.5 acre
site along the Sturgeon River, and has 68
one bedroom residential units, 60
two bedroom residential units, 38 two
bedroom residential units (each
containing a den) and 114 three bedroom
residential units. The building has
total rentable square footage of
284,953 sq ft, which equates to a 1,018 sq ft
average per residential unit. Total
consideration for the purchase was
$18,500,000, representing $66,071 per
residential unit or $65 per sq ft. The
transaction has a first year cap rate of
7.0% and is expected to close on or
about May 17, 2006.
Corporate Profile
Boardwalk is Canada's largest
owner/operator of multi-family rental
communities. Boardwalk currently owns and
operates in excess of 260 properties
with over 33,900 residential units totaling
approximately 28.5 million net
rentable square feet. The REIT's portfolio
is concentrated in the Provinces of
Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan,
Ontario and Quebec. Boardwalk's trust
units are listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange, trading under the symbol
"BEI.UN".
This news release shall not constitute
an offer to sell or the
solicitation of any offer to buy, nor
shall there be any sale of these
securities in any jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would
be unlawful. The units offered will not
be and have not been registered under
the United States Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "U.S. Securities
Act") and may not be offered or sold in
the United States except pursuant to
exemptions from the registration
requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and
applicable state securities laws.
Certain information regarding Boardwalk
contained herein may constitute
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements may include estimates,
plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts,
projections, guidance or other
statements that are not statements of fact.
Although Boardwalk believes that
the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable,
it can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to have been
correct. These statements are subject
to certain risks and uncertainties and
may be based on assumptions that could
cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated or
implied in the forward-looking
statements. In particular, as disclosed
in the Prospectus, the acquisitions of
the additional 518 residential units in
British Columbia and Alberta have not
closed. Although management of the REIT
expects that such acquisitions will
close, there can be no assurance that
the vendors of these properties will
perform their obligations under such
agreements. Accordingly, there can be no
assurance that the REIT will complete
the acquisitions, or any of them, on the
basis described herein, if at all.
Boardwalk's forward-looking statements are
expressly qualified in their entirety
by this cautionary statement.
For further information please contact:
Boardwalk REIT
Sam Kolias,
President and CEO,
(403) 531-9255;
Roberto Geremia,
Senior Vice President, Finance
and Chief Financial Officer,
(403) 531-9255;
