Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust to Acquire Two Retail Power Centres in Mississauga, Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 19, 2011) - Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REF.UN) (CREIT) today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire two high quality retail power centres located in Mississauga, Ontario.

The purchase price for the properties is $171.0 million. Typical due diligence conditions have been satisfied and the agreement is subject to standard closing conditions. The scheduled closing is during June, 2011.

The first property, Winston Churchill Power Centre, is located at the northeast corner of Winston Churchill Boulevard and Eglinton Avenue West. This property is located adjacent to the Erin Mills Town Centre and a Loblaws grocery store.

Winston Churchill Power Centre was developed in phases between 1999 and 2007. The property is comprised of approximately 235,000 square feet of retail space on an exceptional 25 acre site.

The property is 100% leased to high quality tenants including Rona, National Sports and three Canadian Chartered banks, among others.

The second property, Erin Mills Power Centre, is located less than five kilometres south of Winston Churchill Power Centre at the northeast corner of Highway 403 and Dundas Street.

Erin Mills Power Centre is comprised of approximately 320,000 square feet of retail space on 30 acres of land. This property is also 100% leased. Tenants include Future Shop, Famous Players, Chapters, Golf Town, Sears Home, Home Outfitters and several others.

Stephen Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of CREIT, said "These are exceptional properties and they will be a natural addition to CREIT's existing portfolio of high-quality real estate assets. Shopping centres of this quality are rarely available for acquisition, especially in the Greater Toronto Area."

The purchase price is anticipated to be settled by the assumption of approximately $61.8 million of first mortgage debt secured by part of the properties, carrying a weighted average interest rate of 5.24% and a weighted average term to maturity of 4.8 years.

The balance of the funds required to close will be funded by new mortgage financing placed on existing unencumbered CREIT properties (but may include part of the properties being acquired) and bank credit facilities.

CREIT is a real estate investment trust focused on accumulating a portfolio of high-quality real estate assets and delivering the benefits of real estate ownership to Unitholders. The primary benefit is a reliable and, over time, increasing cash distribution.