REIT Watch: UK’s Segro Forms JV with Canada’s PSP Investments

**United Kingdom**

**Segro Announces European Warehouse Tie-up**
INVEZZ.com Monday, July 1st: Segro Plc (LON:SGRO), the UK’s largest publicly traded owner of industrial properties, said on Friday that it had signed a joint venture agreement with Canada’s Public Sector Pension (PSP) Investment Board.
The Slough, England-based REIT will put €974 million (£834.5 million) worth of its Continental European logistic portfolio into the new tie-up. PSP Investments will contribute €303 million (£259 million) of equity. Under the term of the deal, expected to complete towards the end of the third quarter, Segro will own 50 percent of the venture, which will attempt to increase the portfolio’s value to at least €2 billion (£1.7 billion) through developments and acquisitions, the British REIT said in a statement.

“The transaction is the first step in building what we expect to be a strong long-term relationship with PSP Investments as we seek to take advantage of the growth and consolidation opportunities in the continental European logistics market,” Segro’s Chief Executive Officer David Sleath said in the statement.
**United States**
**Whitestone Purchases Anthem Marketplace for $23.3m**

Whitestone (NYSE:WSR), a U.S.-based real estate investment trust engaged in owning and operating commercial properties, has completed a $23.3 million off-market purchase of Anthem Marketplace, located in Phoenix, Arizona. The 113,293-square-foot centre is anchored by Safeway and includes a broad tenant mix of dining establishments and personal care services and retailers, the REIT said in a press release today.

**Europe**
**Germany’s Prime Office REIT Launches Search of New Boss**
!m[Whitestone REIT Buys Anthem Marketplace, Germany’s Prime Office REIT Discharges CEO](/uploads/story/3564/thumbs/pic1_inline.jpg)
The supervisory board of Prime Office REIT (ETR:PMO) decided on Friday to discharge the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Claus Hermuth, with immediate effect, the Munich-based real estate investment trust has announced. A spokesman for the company has added that slow progress in letting or selling key office assets was the main reason for the decision. The Chief Financial Officer of Prime Office REIT,

Alexander von Cramm, will manage the business of the company until a successor for Hermuth is found.
The German REIT has further announced that its current talks on a merger with OCM German Real Estate Holding will be continued. At the moment, the companies are in the process of calculating the corporate values required to determine the exchange ratio.
**The Segro share price in London was 0.04 percent higher at 279.10p as of 01.07.2013, 15:20 BST.**
**The Whitestone share price in New York was 0.51 percent higher at $15.84 as of 01.07.2013, 15:20 BST.**
**The Prime Office REIT share price in Berlin was 3.17 percent down at €3.46 as of 01.07.2013, 15:20 BST.**