Mr. Mitchell Goldhar reports

SMARTCENTRES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ANNOUNCES $300 MILLION SERIES Z SENIOR UNSECURED DEBENTURE ISSUE

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has priced an offering of $300-million aggregate principal amount of 5.354 per cent Series Z senior unsecured debentures on an agency basis. The Series Z debentures will mature on May 29, 2028. The debentures are being offered by a syndicate of agents with Scotia Capital as the lead left bookrunner, CIBC Capital Markets, Desjardins Securities, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities as joint bookrunners, and BMO Capital Markets, National Bank Financial, Mizuho Securities, HSBC Securities (Canada), Canaccord Genuity, Casgrain and iA Private Wealth as co-managers. The offering is expected to close on or about May 29, 2023. DBRS Morningstar has provided SmartCentres with a provisional credit rating of BBB with a stable trend relating to the debentures.

SmartCentres intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to refinance existing debt, including the repayment of its $200-million Series I senior unsecured debentures due May 30, 2023, and for general corporate purposes.

This offering is being made by way of a private placement to certain accredited investors in each of the provinces and territories of Canada.

About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust

SmartCentres 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-per-cent 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 have commenced 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, Ont. 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 townhouses that complete these phases, have closed. The fourth and fifth sold-out phases representing 1,026 units commenced closing and occupancy in March, 2023.

We seek Safe Harbor.