CPP Investment Board Acquires Stake in Scotia Place

From PEsource

Real Estate
CPP Investment Board Acquires Stake in Scotia Place
By Toronto, Canada
Jan 28, 2008, 09:03

The CPP Investment Board (CPPIB) has acquired a 40 per cent interest in Scotia Place, a 600,000-square-foot Class A office tower located in downtown Edmonton. Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust, which previously held a 100 per cent stake in the building, will retain a 20 per cent stake and an investment manager will acquire the remaining 40 per cent interest. The value of the CPP Investment Board's investment will be $64 million. The total value of the property is $160 million.

As of Sept. 30, 2007, the CPP Investment Board had approximately $6.2 billion in total real estate holdings in Canada and around the world, $3.6 billion of which was held in Canada. Currently, the organization holds equity investments in 11 commercial Class A properties in Alberta including the Canterra Tower in Calgary, as well as the Bell and Canadian Western Bank Towers in Edmonton, and the Edmonton City Centre, a retail property.

The acquisition of Scotia Place reflects the CPP Investment Board's strategy of owning core properties in strong real estate markets. Currently the CPP Investment Board has interests in six Class A office properties in downtown Edmonton, totaling approximately 2.0 million square feet. The addition of Scotia Place will increase the total to 2.6 million square feet.

INFO SOURCES

The CPP Investment Board (CPPIB)

FIRMS

The CPP Investment Board invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, the CPP Investment Board is investing in publicly-traded stocks, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income. Based in Toronto, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At September 30, 2007, the CPP Fund totaled $121.3 billion.

PEOPLE

Graeme Eadie, senior vice-president of Real Estate Investments for CPPIB