/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED
STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN
THE UNITED STATES/
MONTRÉAL, March 21, 2022 /CNW
Telbec/ - BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: BTB.UN)
("BTB", the "REIT" or the "Trust") announces
today that it has reached an agreement with a syndicate of
underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. (the
"Underwriters") to issue to the public, subject to
regulatory approval, on a bought deal basis 8,334,000 trust units
(the "Units") at a price of $4.20 per Unit for gross proceeds of
approximately $35M. The REIT has
granted the Underwriters an over-allotment option exercisable in
whole or in part at any time up to 30 days after closing to
purchase up to an additional 1,250,100 Units at the same offering
price.
$30M of the net proceeds from the
sale of the Units will be used to repay amounts drawn under the
REIT's acquisition credit facility and the balance for general
trust purposes. Upon completion of the offering and the use of the
net proceeds therefrom, BTB expects to have access to approximately
$90 million of available capital
through cash on hand and its credit facilities, subject to
fulfilling the conditions for drawing upon the credit
facilities.
The Units will be offered by way of a prospectus supplement to
the REIT's short form base shelf prospectus dated June 11th, 2021, which prospectus
supplement is expected to be filed with the securities commissions
and other similar regulatory authorities in each of the provinces
and territories of Canada on or
about March 23, 2022. Closing of the
offering is expected to take place on or about March 30, 2022.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell
securities, nor is it a solicitation of an offer to buy securities
in any jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer
of securities for sale in the United
States and the securities referred to in this news release
may not be offered or sold in the United
States absent a registration or an exemption from
registration.
Capital Deployment Update
The Trust continues to execute its strategy to grow and upgrade
its portfolio with a focus on industrial and suburban office
properties. The previously announced recent accretive
acquisitions totaling approximately $200M of fair value of industrial properties in
Edmonton, Alberta and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as well as the
acquisitions of well-located suburban office properties in Montréal
and Ottawa demonstrate BTB's
commitment to strategically position its portfolio within
Canada's primary markets with high
quality assets.
More specifically, the following transactions occurred since
November 2021:
- On November 8th, 2021,
the Trust acquired two suburban life science class "A"
office properties located at 2344 and 2600 Alfred Nobel Boulevard
in the
Saint-Laurent borough of Montréal,
Québec, for a total consideration of $73.6M1. The total leasable area
of these properties is approximately 238,000 sq.ft. and the
properties are 100% occupied.
- On December 24th,
2021, the Trust acquired a portfolio of 10 properties, nine
industrial properties and one office property, located in
Edmonton and Saskatoon for a total consideration of
$93.7M1. The 10
properties total approximately 421,500 sq. ft. and are 100%
occupied.
- On December 21st,
2021, the Trust disposed of a retail property located at
2340 Lapinière in Brossard,
Québec, for total proceeds of $4.5M1. The property was acquired
for a purchase price of $3.5M.
- On January 7th, 2022,
the Trust acquired two class "A" office properties located
at 979 and 1031 Bank Street in the Glebe neighbourhood of
Ottawa, Ontario. Acquired for the
aggregate purchase price of $38.1M1, these two properties
increased BTB's total leasable area by 116,226 sq. ft.
- On January 27th, 2022,
the Trust disposed of four industrial properties located at
705,725 and 805 Boundary Road and 2901 Marleau Avenue in
Cornwall, Ontario. The Trust
disposed of these properties for the aggregate sale price of
$26M1.The
properties were acquired for a purchase price of $15,1M. Following the reimbursement of its
mortgages on the properties, the Trust received net proceeds of
approximately $19 million and they
were used to partially reimburse the outstanding amount on the
credit facility.
Acquisition of an Industrial Property
In addition to the transactions above, BTB also announces that
it has waived conditions for the acquisition of a
high-quality industrial property located in Ottawa, Ontario. Totalling over 46,000 square
feet the property is to be acquired for a total consideration of
$12.5M1, at a
capitalization rate of 5.74%. It is expected that
approximately $8.1 million of the
purchase price will be financed by way of a new mortgage on the
property with the balance being funded by using cash on hand. The
acquisition is expected to close by the end of March 2022, subject to fulfilling customary
closing conditions.
Operational Update
Pro forma the offering, the Trust's net total debt-to-total
asset ratio (net of cash and cash equivalents) is expected to be at
approximately 58% (including convertible debentures), thus
resulting in a total debt ratio lower than BTB's 60% target.
The REIT has collected more than 99% of contractual gross rent
payable between
March 2020 and December 2021, showing minimal impacts related to
COVID-19 on its tenant base and related rent collections.
On February 25th, 2022,
the Trust announced, that it concluded a conditional development
agreement to sell air rights to a residential developer for the
densification of more than 900 residential units on the land of a
retail property owned by BTB (conditional inter alia to
zoning approval), which may provide net proceeds of more than
$30 million over the densification
period. This amount has not been appraised nor was it taken into
consideration in appraising the Trust's total asset value.
About BTB
BTB is a real estate investment trust listed on the Toronto
Stock Exchange. BTB is a property owner active in eastern and
western Canada and owns 73
properties, representing a total leasable area of approximately
5.7 million square feet and a total asset value that
surpasses $1.1 billion.
BTB offers a distribution reinvestment plan to unitholders
whereby the participants may elect to have their monthly cash
distribution reinvested in additional units of BTB at a price based
on the weighted average price for BTB's Units on the Toronto Stock
Exchange for the five trading days immediately preceding the
distribution date, discounted by 3%.
For more detailed information, visit BTB's website at
www.btbreit.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements with
respect to BTB. These statements generally can be identified by use
of forward-looking words such as "may", "will", "expect",
"estimate", "anticipate", "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the
negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and
performance of BTB could differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their
entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future
expectations. Some important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from expectations include, among other
things, general economic and market factors, competition, changes
in government regulation and the factors described from time to
time in the documents filed by BTB with the securities regulators
in Canada. The cautionary
statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to
BTB and persons acting on their behalf. Unless otherwise stated or
required by applicable law, all forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date of this press release.
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1 Excluding transaction costs and
adjustments.
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SOURCE BTB Real Estate Investment Trust