Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Do you have an opinion on Artis REIT?

Article Excerpt

Artis REIT, $11.32, symbol AX.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 43.5 million; Market cap: $492.4 million), owns industrial, office and retail properties in western Canada. Artis’s industrial properties account for 39.0% of its leasable space, followed by office (32.7%) and retail (28.3%). Artis continues to grow by acquisition. It recently agreed to pay $115.3 million for a number of properties in western Canada, including four Alberta industrial properties priced at $85.2 million. Three of these are in Edmonton and one is in Calgary. The deal also includes $5.8 million for retail property in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The new properties will increase the company’s leasable space to 8.4 million square feet in 105 properties. Geographically, its leasable space breaks down as follows: Alberta (49.7%), Manitoba (31.6%), B.C. (11.0%) and Saskatchewan (7.7%). The company’s largest corporate tenants include TransAlta, Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart, MTS Allstream and Bell Canada. Other major tenants include the federal government, and the provincial governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A large…