Dream Office REIT plans to buy

Article Excerpt

Share buybacks are a plus for shareholders—repurchases raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations, which gives the remaining shareholders a larger stake in the company (or REIT). DREAM OFFICE REIT, $14.89, is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (www.dream.ca/office; Units o/s: 46.1 million; Market cap: $742.4 million; Dividend yield: 6.9%) owns 27 office properties, including two under development. It also holds 9.7% of Dream Industrial REIT (Toronto symbol DIR.UN). Dream Industrial owns industrial properties in North America and Europe. Dream Office is now selling 12.5 million units of Dream Industrial for $177.5 million. It then plans to use the proceeds to help fund the buyback of 2.5 million of its outstanding units at a purchase price of $15.50 each. Dream Office unitholders can tender to the offer. If more than 12.5 million units are tendered, the trust will take-up and pay for the tendered units on a pro-rata basis. The total purchase price will be $193.8 million. If you want to…