Smartcentres Closes $300 Million Series AB Senior Unsecured Debenture Issue

TORONTO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SmartCentres Real estate investment Trust (“SmartCentres” or the“Trust”) (TSX:SRU.UN) announced today that it has closed its previously announced private placement of $300 million aggregate principal amount of 4.737% Series AB senior unsecured debentures. The Series AB debentures will mature on August 5, 2031. The debentures were offered on an agency basis by a syndicate of agents led by Scotiabank, CIBC Capital Markets, Desjardins Securities, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities as joint bookrunners, and National Bank Financial, Mizuho Securities, BMO Capital Markets and Casgrain as co-managers. Morningstar DBRS has provided SmartCentres with a credit rating of BBB with a stable trend relating to the debentures.

The net proceeds to SmartCentres from the sale of the Series AB debentures, will be used to refinance existing debt, including the repayment of its $160 million Series N senior unsecured debentures due February 6, 2025, the repayment of its revolving credit line and for general corporate purposes.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in any jurisdiction. The debentures offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and state securities laws. Accordingly, the debentures may not be offered or sold to U.S. persons except pursuant to applicable exemptions from registration requirements.

About SmartCentres

SmartCentres is one of Canada's largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 195 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $11.9 billion in assets consisting of income producing value-oriented retail, purpose-built rental, first-class office and self-storage properties. SmartCentres owns 35.3 million square feet of leasable space with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.

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Certain statements in this Press Release are "forward-looking statements" that reflect management's expectations regarding the Trust's future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. More specifically, certain statements including, but not limited to, statements related to the anticipated use of proceeds of the offering, and statements that contain words such as "could", "should", "can", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "will", "may" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts, constitute "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of assisting the Trust's Unitholders and financial analysts in understanding the Trust's operating environment and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management.

However, such forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including risks associated with potential acquisitions not being completed or not being completed on the contemplated terms, public health crises, real property ownership and development, debt and equity financing for development, interest and financing costs, construction and development risks, and the ability to obtain commercial and municipal consents for development. These risks and others are more fully discussed under the heading“Risks and Uncertainties” and elsewhere in SmartCentres' most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as under the heading“Risk Factors” in SmartCentres' most recent annual information form. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this Press Release are based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, SmartCentres cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this Press Release and SmartCentres assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances unless otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: a stable retail environment; a continuing trend toward land use intensification, including residential development in urban markets and continued growth along transportation nodes; access to equity and debt capital markets to fund, at acceptable costs, future capital requirements and to enable our refinancing of debts as they mature; that requisite consents for development will be obtained in the ordinary course, construction and permitting costs consistent with the past year and recent inflation trends.

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