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The
GUARDIAN
March 31, 2001
By: Doug Gallant
APM Group sells interests in four
shopping centres to Plazacorp
The APM Group has sold its interests in four P.E.I. shopping
centres to Plazacorp Retail Properties Ltd., a publicly held
company trading on the Canadian Venture Exchange. Details of
the sale, which involves the Belvedere Plaza, University
Plaza, the Spring Park Plaza in Charlottetown and the
Granville Street Plaza in Summerside, were announced Friday
by Tim Banks, president of the APM Group.
Tim
Banks said APM was trading its investment for shares of
Plazacorp, making APM a substantial shareholder in the
publicly-traded company. He said no jobs will be lost as a
result of the sale and all APM employees working for the
shopping centres will be transferred to Plazacorp. "This is
a good marriage for APM and will allow APM to focus our
energy on new development opportunities throughout Atlantic
Canada while continuing to retain our investment without the
day-to-day duties of retail mall operations," Tim Banks said.
Earl Brewer, president and chief executive officer of
Plazacorp, was equally pleased with this development. "Tim
and I have partnered on many real estate deals in the past
and I'm happy that Tim has, through this sale, increased his
initial investment in Plazacorp to a larger stake," Brewer
said. "Plazacorp is encouraged by APM's support."
Plazacorp will maintain a local presence in its P.E.I.
operations, Brewer indicated. Rachel Hope, shopping centre
manager for a large regional shopping centre developer, has
returned to P.E.I. to manage these four shopping centres for
Plazacorp. For the time being she will work from APM's
offices in Stratford but will report directly to Plazacorp's
head office in Fredericton.
Plazacorp Retail Properties is a retail real estate
developer that concentrates its activities in Atlantic
Canada and Quebec. "Their acquisition and development of
well-located shopping malls and strip plazas, together with
their local knowledge and strong relationship with Canada's
leading retailers, give them a distinct competitive
advantage in creating a vibrant retail market," Banks said.
As to whether the sale of these malls to Plazacorp would
result in new retail development, Banks said the potential
was certainly there. "Let me just say that the sale to
Plazacorp was a real positive step for these shopping malls.
Plazacorp has a strong national retail presence. They attend
all of the major trade shows relating to retail shopping
centres. They set up booths and speak with potential tenants
who look at their portfolio of retail properties.''
Banks said a major retailer looking to expand could look at
their portfolios and obtain detailed information about
potential locations. "Plazacorp could, for example, show
retailers that they have four properties in P.E.I. that they
might consider and provide them with comprehensive data
about those locations. As a small operator in the retail
sector, we weren't as well-connected to all of the bigger
retail players.''
Banks said Plazacorp is also in the position of being able
to suggest to tenants in their existing retail developments
that they have other properties that these tenants might
consider for purposes of expansion. He indicated that as a
well-known player in the national retail market, Plazacorp's
reputation would certainly carry a degree of influence.
Banks said the deal also works well for him as a developer.
"It's a good investment for me as a developer. We're
building a company here and there are times when other
companies we might like to do business with see us as a
direct competitor. If I wanted, for example, to approach
McDonalds, they might point to the fact one of the malls I
was involved in was home to Burger King. This deal frees APM
of those kids of constraints. It eliminates potential
conflicts of interest.''
The APM Group, a vertically integrated development company
with several branches, is active throughout Canada.
The company employs over 350 people and has combined revenue
in excess of $80 million. |
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3 Lower Malpeque Road
Charlottetown, PEI
C1A 1R4
Tel: 902.569.8400
Fax: 902.569.1149
info@apmconstruction.com
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