Weston: intends to buy 200 million units of REIT

Toronto / CA. (gwl) George Weston Limited announced that Choice Properties REIT, a real estate investment trust created by its subsidiary, Loblaw Companies Limited, filed preliminary prospectuses regarding an initial public offering of trust units and a concurrent offering of senior unsecured debentures with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Copies of the preliminary prospectuses will be available on Sedar.com. Weston also announced its intention to purchase 20’000’000 units of the REIT at the offering price for a total amount of 200 million USD. «I am excited about the potential of Choice Properties REIT to maximize the value of Loblaw´s real estate over time while ensuring that Loblaw remains well positioned to grow the business going forward. I believe a direct investment in the REIT is a good investment for Weston that will yield incremental value to our shareholders», said Executive Chairman W. Galen Weston.