H&R to add investor value

Article Excerpt

H&R REIT, $17.09, is a buy. The trust (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 286.9 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.0%; www.hr-reit.com) has announced a plan to spin off or sell its retail and office properties in a bid to better focus on its residential and industrial segments. H&R will spin off its Primaris properties, including all of its enclosed shopping malls, to a new publicly traded REIT that it will create with the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. Immediately following the spinoff, H&R unitholders will own a 74% stake in Primaris, while HOOPP will own 26%. H&R also says it will sell $600 million of its grocery-anchored and essential services retail properties, its $470-million equity interest in Echo Realty LP, and $2.3 billion in office properties. It will use the funds from those sales to fund its multi-residential and industrial development pipeline as well as for acquisitions in key markets across Canada and the U.S. H&R REIT is a buy. buy…