TORONTO, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (“SmartCentres” or the “Trust”) (TSX:SRU.UN) announced today the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of the holders of Units and Special Voting Units (the “Meeting”) held today.
The total number of Units and Special Voting Units of SmartCentres (“Units” and “SVUs”, respectively) represented by holders of Units and SVUs (collectively, “Unitholders”) that voted in connection with the Meeting was 71,560,766 Units and 42,741,080 SVUs, representing in total 60.83% of SmartCentres’ issued and outstanding Units and SVUs. At the Meeting, Unitholders voted in favour of all items of business, including fixing the number of trustees to be elected or appointed at the Meeting and the election of each of the six trustee nominees proposed by management. The voting results for the election of trustees based on the Units and SVUs represented at the Meeting were as follows:
| # Votes For | % Votes For | # Votes Withheld | % Votes Withheld | |
| Janet Bannister | 111,712,547 | 98.21% | 2,035,677 | 1.79% |
| Garry Foster | 111,669,487 | 98.17% | 2,078,736 | 1.83% |
| Sylvie Lachance | 112,063,080 | 98.52% | 1,685,144 | 1.48% |
| Jamie McVicar | 110,394,038 | 97.05% | 3,354,185 | 2.95% |
| Sharm Powell | 105,726,041 | 92.95% | 8,022,183 | 7.05% |
| Michael Young | 108,148,585 | 95.08% | 5,599,368 | 4.92% |
At the Meeting, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was appointed as the auditor of SmartCentres. Also, 91.63% of Unitholders voted in favour of accepting SmartCentres’ approach to executive compensation (i.e. say-on-pay), as more particularly set forth in SmartCentres’ Management Information Circular dated April 3, 2023 (the “Circular”).
Detailed voting results for the Meeting are available under SmartCentres’ profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About SmartCentres
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class portfolio featuring 188 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $11.7 billion in assets and owns 34.8 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office space with 98.0% in-place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.
SmartCentres continues to focus on enhancing the lives of Canadians by planning and developing complete, connected, mixed-use communities on its existing retail properties. The publicly announced $16.0 billion intensification program ($10.8 billion at SmartCentres’ share) represents the REIT’s current major development focus on which construction is expected to commence within the next five years. This intensification program consists of rental apartments, condos, seniors’ residences and hotels, to be developed under the SmartLiving banner, and retail, office, and storage facilities, to be developed under the SmartCentres banner.
SmartCentres’ intensification program is expected to produce an additional 55.5 million square feet (40.3 million square feet at SmartCentres’ share) of space, 26.6 million square feet (17.9 million square feet at SmartCentres’ share) of which has or will commence construction within the next five years. From shopping centres to city centres, SmartCentres is uniquely positioned to reshape the Canadian urban and urban-suburban landscape.
Included in this intensification program is the Trust’s share of SmartVMC which, when completed, is expected to include approximately 20.0 million square feet of mixed-use space in Vaughan, Ontario. Final closings of the first three phases of Transit City Condominiums began ahead of budget and ahead of schedule in August 2020 and all 1,741 units, in addition to the 22 townhomes that complete these phases, have now closed. The fourth and fifth sold-out phases representing 1,026 units commenced closing and occupancy in March 2023.
Certain statements in this Press Release are “forward-looking statements” that reflect management’s expectations regarding the Trust’s future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. More specifically, certain statements including, but not limited to, statements related to SmartCentres’ expected or planned development plans and joint venture projects, including the described type, scope, costs and other financial metrics and the expected timing of construction and condominium closings and statements that contain words such as “could”, “should”, “can”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “believe”, “will”, “may” and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts, constitute “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of assisting the Trust’s Unitholders and financial analysts in understanding the Trust’s operating environment and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management.
However, such forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including risks associated with potential acquisitions not being completed or not being completed on the contemplated terms, public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, real property ownership and development, debt and equity financing for development, interest and financing costs, construction and development risks, and the ability to obtain commercial and municipal consents for development. These risks and others are more fully discussed under the heading “Risks and Uncertainties” and elsewhere in SmartCentres’ most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis, as well as under the heading “Risk Factors” in SmartCentres’ most recent annual information form. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this Press Release are based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, SmartCentres cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this Press Release and SmartCentres assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances unless otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.
Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: a stable retail environment; a continuing trend toward land use intensification, including residential development in urban markets and continued growth along transportation nodes; access to equity and debt capital markets to fund, at acceptable costs, future capital requirements and to enable our refinancing of debts as they mature; that requisite consents for development will be obtained in the ordinary course, construction and permitting costs consistent with the past year and recent inflation trends.
For more information, please visit www.smartcentres.com or contact:
| Mitchell Goldhar Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer SmartCentres (905) 326-6400 ext. 7674 mgoldhar@smartcentres.com | Peter Slan Chief Financial Officer SmartCentres (905) 326-6400 ext. 7571 pslan@smartcentres.com |
