QUÉBEC CITY, Dec. 10, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Cominar Real
Estate Investment Trust (TSX: CUF.UN) announced today that it
has received approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, to proceed
with a normal course issuer bid previously announced on
November 9, 2018. Under the normal
course issuer bid, Cominar may purchase up to 18,112,182 units of
Cominar, representing approximately 10% of the public float of
units as at November 28, 2018. The
average daily trading volume for the 6-month period preceding
December 1, 2018 is 323,847 units. In
accordance with TSX rules, Cominar may repurchase up to 80,961
units on a daily basis. The bid will commence on December 12, 2018 and terminate on December 11, 2019 or on such earlier date as
Cominar may complete its purchases pursuant to the bid. The units
will be purchased on behalf of Cominar by a registered broker
through the facilities of TSX or alternative Canadian trading
systems. The price paid for the units will be the market price at
the time of the acquisition, and the number of units purchased and
the timing of any such purchases will be determined by Cominar. All
units purchased by Cominar will be cancelled. As at
November 28, 2018, Cominar had 181,940,251 units outstanding
and a public float of 181,121,824 units. Under Cominar's 2017 bid,
3,440,400 units were purchased as at November 28, 2018, at a
weighted average price of $14.50,
through the facilities of TSX or alternative Canadian trading
systems. The maximum number of units approved for purchase under
the 2017 bid was 17,596,591 units.
Cominar also announced that it has implemented an automatic
purchase plan with a broker in order to facilitate repurchases of
its units under its normal course issuer bid. Under Cominar's
automatic purchase plan, Cominar's broker may repurchase units
under the normal course issuer bid at any time including, without
limitation, when Cominar would ordinarily not be permitted to due
to regulatory restrictions or self-imposed blackout periods.
Purchases will be made by Cominar's broker based upon the
parameters prescribed by the TSX and applicable Canadian securities
laws and the terms of the parties' written agreement. Cominar may
suspend or terminate the automatic purchase plan only if it does
not have material non-public information and the decision to
suspend or terminate the automatic purchase plan is not taken
during a self-imposed trading blackout period. The automatic
purchase plan constitutes an "automatic plan" for purposes of
applicable Canadian securities legislation and has been pre-cleared
by the TSX.
The Trustees of Cominar have concluded that purchases of the
issued and outstanding units may be an appropriate and desirable
use of Cominar's available funds and, therefore, would be in the
best interest of Cominar. As a result of such purchases, the number
of issued units will be decreased and, consequently, the
proportionate unit interest of all remaining unitholders will be
increased on a pro rata basis.
PROFILE AS AT DECEMBER 10,
2018
Cominar is the second largest diversified real
estate investment trust in Canada
and is the largest commercial property owner in the Province of
Québec. The REIT owns a real estate portfolio of 429 properties in
three different market segments, that is, office properties, retail
properties and industrial and flex properties. Cominar's portfolio
totals 38.2 million square feet located in the Montreal, Québec City and Ottawa areas. Cominar's primary objectives are
to maximize unit value through the proactive management of its
properties.
SOURCE COMINAR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST