Timbercreek REIT sold to private equity investors

In the midst of gloomy economic data and mid-summer market doldrums, it’s nice to spread some good news.

Timbercreek Real Estate Investment Trust, a private portfolio of 62 apartment buildings in Canada, in which we had a $40 million investment, was sold to Greystone Managed Investments in late August for $182 million – a 15% premium over the recent unit price.

We owned Timbercreek REIT for several years through two of our private funds and it’s been a terrific steady performer generating both predictable cash flows and modest capital gains. Over the past ten years, Timbercreek REIT has delivered an average annual return of 13%, versus the flat performance of the TSX over the same time period.

In some respects, the sale is a mixed blessing because it’s always a challenge to reinvest at that level of return – particularly in this environment!  But as someone once said, ‘you never go broke taking profits’.

We have re-invested a portion of our sale proceeds in other Timbercreek apartment investment funds, additional select real property projects as well as a portfolio of quality Canadian commercial mortgages.

Congratulations to the Timbercreek management team, led by Blair Tamblyn and Ugo Bizzari for delivering outstanding shareholder value. We look forward to continuing to invest behind them in additional opportunities.

You can read more about the story in this Globe & Mail article, “Timbercreek REIT sold to private equity investors“.