Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust Files Final Prospectus for Initial Public Offering

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2013 /CNW/ - Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust (the "REIT") announced today that it has filed, and obtained a receipt for, a final prospectus for its initial public offering of 20,000,000 trust units with the securities commissions of all provinces and territories in Canada.  The units will be issued at a price of $10.00 per unit and are expected to provide unitholders with an initial annual yield of approximately 6.5%. The gross proceeds of the public offering will be $200 million.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used by the REIT to indirectly acquire an interest in Milestone Multifamily Investors L.P. (the "Partnership") from MileSouth Apartment Portfolio LP ("MileSouth"), an affiliated entity of Invesco Ltd. The Partnership indirectly owns and operates a portfolio of 52 multifamily properties in the United States. Following closing, MileSouth will retain an approximate 48% interest in the REIT, while MST Investors, LLC, an affiliate of The Milestone Group, LLC, will hold an approximate 11% interest, in each case calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming all redeemable securities are redeemed for units of the REIT). TMG Partners, L.P., an affiliate of The Milestone Group, LLC, will be the external asset manager of the REIT.

The offering is being underwritten by a syndicate of underwriters co-led by BMO Capital Markets and CIBC. BMO Capital Markets is the sole bookrunner on the transaction. The REIT has granted the underwriters an over-allotment option, exercisable at any time up to 30 days following the closing, to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units which, if exercised in full, would increase the total gross proceeds to $230 million. The net proceeds of the over-allotment option will be used by the REIT to indirectly acquire additional interests in the Partnership from MileSouth and/or for working capital purposes.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of the units under the symbol "MST.UN".

The offering is expected to close on March 6, 2013. A copy of the final prospectus containing full details of the Offering and the REIT will be available under the REIT's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The units have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, "U.S. persons" (as defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the units in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons.

About Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust

Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established pursuant to a declaration of trust under the laws of the Province of Ontario.   Concurrent with the completion of the offering and related transactions, the REIT will acquire a portfolio of 52 multifamily garden-style residential properties, comprising 16,944 units that are located throughout the Southeast and Southwest United States.

The REIT's goals are to generate stable and growing cash distributions to its unitholders while enhancing the value of its assets through active management and expanding the REIT's asset base of multifamily properties in the United States through accretive acquisitions.

About The Milestone Group

The Milestone Group is a privately held real estate investment management company that acquires and manages multifamily real estate assets in the United States on behalf of its clients.  Founded in 2004, The Milestone Group has completed nearly $3.2 billion of multifamily acquisitions and over $1.3 billion of dispositions on behalf of leading institutional investors globally, including a sovereign wealth fund and a number of public and private pensions funds.  The Milestone Group currently acts as the asset manager for each of the properties that will be acquired by the REIT in connection with the initial public offering and will become the asset manager of the REIT thereafter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which reflect management's current expectations regarding future events, including those relating to the closing of the offering and related use of proceeds.  The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.  Actual results could differ materially from those projected herein.  The REIT disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements

SOURCE: Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust

Robert P. Landin, CEO
Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust 
Tel: [phone] 
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