STELLARTON, NS, June 3 /CNW/ – Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust ("Crombie") (TSX: CRR.UN) is pleased to announce the extension and syndication of its bridge loan with a $139,000,000 two year secured non-revolving term facility carrying a floating interest rate priced at 400 basis points above 30 day bankers' acceptance rates. Agented by the Bank of Nova Scotia, the seven bank syndicate consists of The Bank of Nova Scotia, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, The Bank of Montreal, Canadian Western Bank, Laurentian Bank and National Bank of Canada. The extension and syndication will be effective on the opening of business tomorrow, June 4, 2009.
The bridge loan, approximating $140,323,000 at March 31, 2009, was the remaining balance of the original $280,000,000 bridge loan which was used to partially finance the acquisition of a portfolio of 61 properties acquired by Crombie on April 22, 2008. The bridge loan was originally set to expire on October 22, 2009. The difference between the bridge loan and the extended facility will be financed through the revolving credit facility. The original amount of the bridge loan was reduced through a series of secured long term financings. The extended facility remains secured by 30 of the 61 properties acquired by Crombie on April 22, 2008.
Commenting on the syndication and extension of the bridge loan, J. Stuart Blair, President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We are extremely pleased at the interest and support we received in the syndication of the facility, especially with the addition of three new lenders to Crombie. The two year term extension will allow Crombie to continue our discussions with potential lenders to replace the credit facility with suitable long-term financing."
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 113 commercial properties in seven provinces, comprising approximately 11.2 million square feet of rentable space.
This news release contains 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 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 2008 annual Management Discussion and Analysis under "Risk Management", 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.
In particular, certain statements in this document discuss Crombie's anticipated outlook of future events. These statements include, but are not limited to replacing the credit facility with long term financing, which could be impacted by credit markets conditions including liquidity, credit spreads and other financing risks. 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: Scott Ball, C.A., Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, Crombie REIT, (902) 755-8100