Crombie REIT announces $141 million mortgage financing

STELLARTON, NS, Feb. 1 /CNW/ - Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust ("Crombie") (TSX: CRR.UN) is pleased to report that it has closed mortgage financings for a total of $141 million for its office and retail portfolio known as Halifax Developments ("HDL Properties"). The proceeds of this financing were applied to repay the maturing mortgage financing on February 1, 2010 of approximately $106 million and reduce the revolving credit facility.

$25 million of mortgage financing has been provided by a mortgage fund company for the Barrington Place and CIBC buildings and has a 10 year term and a 25 year amortization with a fixed rate of interest of 6.519%.

$116 million of mortgage financing has been provided by Otéra Capital for the remaining HDL properties and has a 10 year term and a 25 year amortization with a fixed rate of interest of 6.47%.

In conjunction with the new financing, Crombie also settled in December of 2009 the related delayed interest rate swap agreements for a total charge of approximately $14.6 million .

The HDL mortgage was Crombie's only term debt maturing in 2010.

Commenting on the closing of the financing, Donald E. Clow, F.C.A., President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We are pleased to complete these strategically important long term financings at reasonable interest rates. The additional proceeds that have been obtained due to the strength of the HDL portfolio value improve our balance sheet and our capacity for future growth."

About Crombie

Crombie is an open-ended real estate investment trust established under, and governed by, the laws of the Province of Ontario. The trust invests in income-producing retail, office and mixed-use properties in Canada , with a future growth strategy focused primarily on the acquisition of retail properties. Crombie currently owns a portfolio of 113 commercial properties in seven provinces, comprising approximately 11.2 million square feet of rentable space.

This news release may contain forward looking statements that reflect the current expectations of management of Crombie about Crombie's future results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "continue", "may", "will", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions have been used to identify these forward looking statements. These statements reflect current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management of Crombie. Forward looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors, including those discussed in the 2009 annual Management Discussion and Analysis under "Risk Management", could cause actual results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and a reader should not place undue reliance on the forward looking statements. There can be no assurance that the expectations of management of Crombie will prove to be correct.

Additional information relating to Crombie can be found on Crombie's web site at www.crombiereit.com or on the SEDAR web site for Canadian regulatory filings at www.sedar.com.

For further information: Scott Ball, C.A., Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, Crombie REIT, [phone]