SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust announced $513 million strategic acquisition of a two-thirds interest in 53 acres (acquired lands), in SmartVMC, the 100+ acre master-planned City Centre in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. This more than doubles the company?s interest in SmartVMC, uniting ownership across the property and making the company the large landowner in Vaughan?s dynamic TTC subway-connected Downtown. The acquired lands have in-place Permissions for multi-residential, condominium, seniors? residences, office, retail, recreational, entertainment, and other uses, aligned with the company?s transformation strategy. Goldhar?s Penguin Group of Companies owns the remaining 33.33% of acquired lands, therefore extending the successful SmartCentres/Penguin partnership to now own the entire 105-acre SmartVMC City Centre, on which 21 million square feet is envisioned. Approximately 11 acres of the acquired lands are currently occupied by various retailers, including a 146,000 square foot Lowe?s Home Improvement store and several quick service restaurants, providing strong holding income. Merging these two parcels of land under common ownership enables the unleashing of creativity and maximizing of synergies, such as environmental sustainability, open space connectivity, renewable energy, and recycling management. The company intends to fund the acquisition through: the issuance of approximately $200 million in subsidiary SmartCentres REIT Limited Partnership Units, to be issued at $34.50 per unit, and exchangeable into SmartCentres REIT Units on a one-for-one basis (subject to TSX approval), and approximately $313 million from debt facilities and cash on hand.