Cassels Brock Assists Starlight in Its $2.3 Billion Acquisition of TransGlobe Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust

Published: 04/26/2012

By Imran Ahmad, Jason Arbuck, Joan Beck, Jonathan Freeman, Chris Hersh, Tom Koutoulakis, Adria W. Leung, Pollyanna Lord, Michael Platt, David A. Redmond, Ken Snider, Janice Vohrah, Nicole Washington, Lawrence D. Wilder

On April 26, 2012, TransGlobe Apartment REIT (“TransGlobe REIT”) entered into an acquisition agreement (the “Agreement”) with PD Kanco LP and Startlight Investments Ltd. (collectively “Starlight”).  Under the terms of the agreement, holders of TransGlobe REIT units will receive $14.25 for each unit held.

The transaction is valued at $2.3 billion and represents one of the largest REIT transactions of 2012.

TransGlobe REIT owns a portfolio of 175 residential rental properties containing approximately 21,735 suites in Alberta, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The transaction is backed by Daniel Drimmer, the founder of TransGlobe REIT, and is supported by a consortium consisting of PSP Investments (“PSP”), a Canadian crown corporation established to invest on behalf of the pension plans of the Public Service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force Pension Plan.  PSP has net assets under management as at March 31, 2011 of over $58 billion, with over $5 billion invested in real estate: Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, one of Canada’s largest residential landlords with a market capitalization of approximately $2 billion and Timbercreek Asset Management Inc. a specialized investment manager focused on real estate and other alternative asset classes, with approximately $1.9 billion in assets under management. The transaction is expected to close in June 2012.

Cassels Brock acted as counsel to Starlight with a team that included, David Redmond (Real Estate and Development), Tom Koutoulakis (Securities),  Lawrence Wilder (Securities), Joan Beck (Securities), Pollyanna Lord (Securities), Adria Leung (Securities), Nicole Washington (Securities) Jon Freeman (Real Estate and Development), Ken Snider (Corporate Tax), Michael Platt (Corporate Tax), Janice Vohrah (Corporate Tax), Chris Hersh (Competition), Imran Ahmad (Competition) and Jason Arbuck (Financial Services).