The real estate company Canderel proposes to buy and privatize the important real estate fund Cominar for $ 5.7 billion, which would represent a major transaction in the commercial real estate sector in Quebec.
In a press release sent on Sunday evening, Cominar, which owns 310 office, commercial and industrial buildings in Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa, announces that it has entered into an arrangement agreement with Iris Acquisition II LP, an entity created by a consortium led by Property Ownership Canderel.
Under the agreement, the acquirer proposes to pay $ 11.75 per share, i.e. a premium of 16.3% over the volume-weighted average price per unit of Cominar for the 20-day period that took late Friday.
It also represents a premium of 63.2% over the closing price on September 15, 2020, the day before the announcement of a strategic review process by Cominar.
The transaction provides that Groupe Mach Acquisition would acquire commercial and office buildings valued at approximately $ 1.5 billion.
The transaction has the unanimous support of Cominar’s board of trustees and of the special committee of the board, which is made up of independent trustees, it is said.
“We believe that this transaction provides significant value, certainty and liquidity to our unitholders, and we are convinced that it is in the best interests of Cominar,” said René Tremblay, Chairman of the Board of Trustees de Cominar, in the press release.
Canderel CEO Brett Miller says the transaction would also benefit Comirar tenants as it would “leverage the resources of the Canderel platform and a group of investors led by Quebecers with for the long-term perspective of opening up opportunities for growth and development in the communities where Cominar operates ”.
Groupe Mach sees this as an opportunity to increase its “leading position in Quebec in all categories of real estate assets” by adding buildings from Cominar. “The acquired properties will be incorporated into Groupe Mach’s integrated operations and management system with the objective of preserving the long-term interests of the various stakeholders,” says its president and founder, Vincent Chiara.
The parties believe that the transaction could close in the first quarter of 2022.