Primaris Purchases Four Shopping Centres

On June 14, 2006, Primaris Retail REIT completed the purchase of a portfolio of four shopping centres for a purchase price of approximately $114 million. The vendor was the Frum Development Group. The properties include three shopping centres located in Ontario and one in New Brunswick with an aggregate gross leasable area of more than 704,000 square feet. Principal tenants of the centres include Loblaws (under the Zehrs and Valu-Mart banners) and Zellers. The acquisition diversified Primaris's holdings in the Ontario market and made an initial investment in a new market—New Brunswick—increasing the book value of Primaris's portfolio to more than $1.2 billion.

Primaris was represented on the acquisition by Louis Forbes, Ron Perlmutter, Devon Jones, Mike DeGier, Sylvia Gajewski and Grant Charles. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP acted as external counsel to Primaris and the team was led by Jim Hilton, with assistance from David O'Brien, Dorothy Wahl, Iris Tam, Tim Reibetanz, Larry Winton, Denise Daniel, Eugenia Bilokin and Mary Louise Walker. Allison McCarthy of Stewart McKelvey acted as New Brunswick counsel to Primaris.

Marty Middlestadt, Peter Guselle, Alan Frank, Rosa deFilippis and Svetlana Zaidman of Fogler, Rubinoff LLP represented the vendor, with assistance from New Brunswick counsel D. Leslie Smith of Allen Dixon Smith.

In connection with the acquisition of the properties, financing in the amount of $46.7 million was arranged for with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, represented in-house by Alec Svoboda, and by Norman Kahn of Aird & Berlis LLP. Dom Glavota and Linda Kwak of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP acted on behalf of Capmark Canada Limited in connection with the assumption of existing financing on one of the properties.

Lawyer(s)

David O'Brien Allison J. McCarthy Jim Hilton Norman I. Kahn Dorothy Wahl Martin L. Middlestadt Rosa DeFilippis Larry Winton D. Leslie Smith Peter K. Guselle Dom Glavota Denise Daniel Timothy Reibetanz Iris Tam Alan J. Frank

Firm(s)

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Stewart McKelvey Fogler, Rubinoff LLP McInnes Cooper Aird & Berlis LLP Gowling WLG