European Residential Real Estate Investment Trust
(“
ERES” or “
the REIT”)
(TSX:ERE.UN) announced today an update on the expected closing of
its previously disclosed strategic dispositions, and timing of its
anticipated special distribution and distribution reduction, as
announced in its press release dated September 16, 2024.
Strategic Dispositions
As disclosed on September 16, 2024, ERES Limited
Partnership (“ERES LP”) and certain other
subsidiaries of ERES have entered into an agreement with an entity
owned by a consortium of parties that includes TPG Angelo Gordon,
Dream Unlimited Corporation, Stadium Capital Partners, and several
co-investment partners (the “Purchaser”), to sell
certain entities owning 2,947 residential suites in the Netherlands
for proceeds, net of certain estimated adjustments, of
approximately €695 million (the “Disposition I”).
Approval for Disposition I has been received from the Dutch
competition authority (ACM), and the Purchaser has notified ERES of
an expected closing date of December 16, 2024.
Also as previously announced, certain other
subsidiaries of ERES have entered into a separate agreement to sell
232 residential suites in the Netherlands for gross proceeds of
approximately €44 million (the “Disposition II”,
and together with Disposition I, the
“Dispositions”), which ERES expects will close on
December 2, 2024. There can be no assurance that all requirements
for closing of the Dispositions will be obtained, satisfied or
waived, nor that the Dispositions will close on the dates disclosed
herein.
Special Distribution
Subject to the completion of the Dispositions in
accordance with the terms and timing described above, ERES intends
to declare a special cash distribution of an estimated €0.75 per
Unit and ERES LP’s exchangeable Class B LP Unit (equivalent to an
estimated C$1.10 based on the foreign exchange rate of 1.47 on
November 21, 2024), payable to holders of the REIT’s Units and ERES
LP’s Class B LP Units of record at the close of business on
December 23, 2024, with payment on December 31, 2024 (the
“Special Distribution”). For Canadian income tax
purposes, the Special Distribution is estimated to be comprised of
a return of capital in the range of approximately 55-65%. The
Special Distribution will not qualify for the REIT’s Distribution
Reinvestment Plan. It is expected that the Toronto Stock Exchange
will implement its “due bill” trading procedures with respect to
the Special Distribution. Further details relating to the Special
Distribution, if declared, will be provided at a later date. The
Special Distribution has not yet been declared and there can be no
assurance as to the timing, quantum or composition for Canadian
income tax purposes of any such distribution.
Distribution Reduction
Furthermore, as previously announced, given the
expected completion of the sale of approximately half of the REIT’s
residential suites in 2024 and payment of the Special Distribution,
the Board of Trustees intends to reduce its monthly distribution by
approximately 50% (the “Distribution Reduction”)
to better align distributions with ERES’s remaining portfolio.
Subject to the completion of the Dispositions in accordance with
the timing described above, and subsequent to the payment of the
Special Distribution, ERES expects the Distribution Reduction to
become effective for its January 2025 distribution, payable in
February 2025. Further details relating to the Distribution
Reduction, if implemented, will be provided at a later date. There
can be no assurance as to the timing or magnitude of any future
distributions by the REIT.
Property Management Update
In addition, with the significant decrease in
portfolio size upon anticipated closing of the Dispositions and the
associated diseconomies of scale, ERES announced that it has
entered into an approximately fee-neutral agreement to transfer
property management services for the REIT’s remaining portfolio in
the Netherlands to a third party, expected to enter into effect on
or about January 15, 2025. Canadian Apartment Properties Real
Estate Investment Trust will continue to act as the REIT’s asset
manager.
Proposed Netherlands Tax Amendment
Finally, ERES provided an update on the Dutch
government’s legislative proposal to amend the earnings stripping
rule (by abolishing the €1 million threshold for real estate
entities), as published on September 17, 2024. Further to previous
disclosure, on November 14, 2024, the Dutch House of
Representatives passed an amendment to the legislative proposal
pursuant to which the taxable EBITDA threshold would be increased
to 24.5% and the €1 million threshold for real estate entities
would, however, be retained. Such amendment would maintain the
current ability of the REIT’s subsidiaries to deduct net financing
expenses for Dutch corporate income tax purposes. The revised
legislative proposal is subject to approval by the Dutch Senate,
expected by mid-December, and is projected to become effective as
of January 1, 2025. There is no assurance that the potential
amendment will ultimately be enacted by the Dutch government or
enter into force as per the timeline indicated. As such, it is
subject to change, and such change (and the impact of such change
on the REIT) may be significant.
Should the potential amendment be implemented as
described above, and after adjusting for the estimated effect of
previously disclosed dispositions, the REIT’s forecasted current
income tax expense for the year ending December 31, 2025 for the
remaining portfolio is approximately €4 million. This assumes
ongoing rental operations, however, ERES will continue to explore
all available opportunities to drive value, including the
possibility for future strategic property sales, which would alter
the estimated current income tax expense for the REIT’s residual
portfolio.
ABOUT ERESERES is an
unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust. ERES’s
Units are listed on the TSX under the symbol ERE.UN. ERES is
Canada’s only European-focused multi-residential REIT, with a
current portfolio of high-quality, multi-residential real estate
properties in the Netherlands. As at September 30, 2024, ERES owned
approximately 6,300 residential suites, including approximately
3,200 suites classified as assets held for sale, and ancillary
retail space located in the Netherlands, and owned one commercial
property in Germany and one commercial property in Belgium, with a
total fair value of approximately €1.6 billion, including
approximately €0.7 billion of assets held for sale. For more
information about ERES, its business and its investment highlights,
please visit our website at www.eresreit.com and our public
disclosure which can be found under our profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATIONCertain statements contained in
this press release constitute forward-looking information,
future-oriented financial information, or financial outlooks
(collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities laws, which reflect ERES’s current
expectations and projections about future results. Forward-looking
information generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as “outlook”, “objective”, “may”,
“will”, “expect”, “intent”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”,
“consider”, “should”, “plans”, “predict”, “estimate”, “forward”,
“potential”, “could”, “likely”, “approximately”, “scheduled”,
“forecast”, “variation” or “continue”, or similar expressions
suggesting future outcomes or events. The forward-looking
information in this press release relates only to events or
information as of the date on which the statements are made in this
press release. Actual results and developments are likely to
differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied
by the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from this forward-looking information. Although ERES
believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking
information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the
expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be
correct. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of
assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including regarding the
expected completion and timing of the Dispositions, the
satisfaction of closing conditions with respect to the
Dispositions, the amount, timing and composition of the Special
Distribution, the amount and timing of the Distribution Reduction,
the expected externalization of property management services, the
expected enactment of the proposed tax amendment, and the timing
and details of the potential legislation (including that the
amendment to the earnings stripping rule will include only the
increase of the maximum interest expense deductibility to 24.5% of
the taxpayer’s taxable EBITDA, effective January 1,
2025). Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking information.
Forward looking information in this press
release is subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could
result in actual results differing materially from this
forward-looking information, including with respect to the expected
closing of the Dispositions, the payment of the Special
Distribution, and the implementation of the Distribution Reduction.
Risks and uncertainties pertaining to ERES are more fully described
in regulatory filings that can be obtained on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca.
Except as specifically required by applicable
Canadian securities law, ERES does not undertake any obligation to
update or revise publicly any forward-looking information, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after
the date on which the information is provided or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events. This forward-looking
information should not be relied upon as representing ERES’s views
as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
For more information, please
contact:
ERES |
ERES |
ERES |
Dr. Gina Parvaneh Cody |
Mr. Mark Kenney |
Ms. Jenny Chou |
Chair of the Board of Trustees |
Chief Executive Officer |
Chief Financial Officer |
(437) 219-1765 |
(416) 861-9404 |
(416) 354-0188 |
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