Homburg Invest delivers on value creation strategy

Shares issued: Class A - 17,094,490 Class B - 3,148,538

HALIFAX, June 11 /CNW/ - (TSX: HII.A & HII.B and NYSE Euronext Amsterdam: HII) -Richard Homburg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Homburg Invest Inc. ("Homburg Invest" or the "Company") told shareholders and guests at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders today that the Company had accomplished an important milestone in its strategic direction when it completed the initial public offering of the Homburg Canada Real Estate Investment Trust.

"Six months ago, we announced a strategic initiative to spin off our income-producing properties into four geographic entities and a development company," said Mr. Homburg, following the meeting. "Since that time, we have begun to deliver on our strategy in a big way. In May, we raised $105.4 million from the initial public offering of Homburg Canada REIT. That spinoff not only bolstered our balance sheet, it also created one of Canada's largest and best quality REITs. Homburg Invest will reap a solid income stream from the REIT while participating strongly in its growth. It is an excellent example of how we are delivering on our strategy to highlight the intrinsic, unrecognized value in our portfolio."

Highlights: A successful year in a difficult economic environment

Richard Stolle, President and Chief Operating Officer said: "Despite difficult economic conditions in North America and Europe, Homburg Invest continued to grow in 2009. Our strategy of diversification by geography and by market segment, and our focus on providing high quality, responsive service to our tenants, provided a strong base for our continued success."

In 2009, Homburg Invest:

    
    - Grew property revenues by 4% to $322.8 million
    - Maintained net operating profits at $222.9 million
    - Grew funds from operations by 36.4% to $53.2 million
    - Paid down long-term debt by $162 million or 5.5% of the previous year's
      total; the Company paid down another $30 million subsequent to yearend
    - Maintained occupancy rates in the office, retail and residential
      markets at levels well above 95%; the industrial segment reported an
      80.1% occupancy rate
    - Sold more than $110 million in development properties.
    

"Once markets are healthier, we will proceed with our plans to spin off our interests in the Netherlands and Germany into a publicly traded entity; and the same is true for our properties in the Baltic countries," continued Mr. Homburg. "However, spinning off our assets into a public company immediately is not our only option. We will look at whatever proposal creates the most value and potential upside, including merger proposals for these assets, joint ventures or a sale of assets. We will do what creates the most value, within the context of market conditions.

"The ultimate goal of the spinoff is to ensure that each of our local companies is fully valued by informed local investors who know the market. As a consequence, Homburg Invest shares should trade closer to their intrinsic value.

"Our portfolio consists of high quality income-producing and development assets that will respond quickly to strength in local economies like the Baltics and Canada, where markets are already improving. As world real estate markets regain their vigour, we believe strongly that the market value of our portfolio on our balance sheet will recover rapidly, creating strong shareholder value," Mr. Homburg concluded.

About Homburg Invest

Homburg Invest Inc. owns and develops a diversified portfolio of quality real estate including office, retail, industrial and residential apartment and townhouse properties throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. The head office of the Company is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release may contain statements which by their nature are forward-looking and express the Company's beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future performance, future events or trends. Forward looking statements are made by the Company in good faith, given management's expectations or intentions, which are subject to market conditions, acquisitions, occupancy rates, capital requirements, sources of funds, expense levels, operating performance and other matters. Therefore, forward-looking statements contain assumptions which are subject to various factors including: unknown risks and uncertainties; general economic conditions; local market factors; performance of other third parties; environmental concerns; and interest rates, any of which may cause actual results to differ from the Company's good faith beliefs, expectations or intentions which have been expressed in or may be implied from this news release. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks. Information and statements in this document, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and reflect management's current views of future events and financial performance that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions and developments within the real estate industry, competition and the management of growth. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.

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For further information: Mr. Richard Homburg, Chairman and CEO, Homburg Invest Inc., [phone]; J. Richard Stolle, President and COO, Homburg Invest Inc., 31-20-573-3855; Paul de la Plante, NATIONAL Public Relations, 514 843-2332