Manulife Acquires New Retail Property in Western Canada

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre in Langley

In a C$29.25 million deal (approximately USD $28.35 million), Manulife Real Estate has purchased the 91,517-square-foot Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre in Greater Vancouver’s Langley Township of British Columbia.

The property is anchored by top Canadian retailers Save-On-Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart, which occupy about 46 percent of the center’s leasing area.

The Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre was purchased for the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio, a real estate investment fund managed by Manulife Real Estate. Launched in February 2011, the fund is offered to institutional investors through Manulife Asset Management, the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial.

“The acquisition of this prime retail property in Western Canada is an excellent complement to the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio,” said Kevin Adolphe, Global Head of Private Asset Management for Manulife Financial and President & CEO of Manulife Real Estate. “It’s completely in line with the Fund’s strategy to provide institutional investors with an opportunity to invest in a quality, diversified property portfolio that offers income stability while also preserving capital.”

With its latest addition, the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio now owns 14 income producing properties totaling approximately 2.3 million square feet.

“Manulife is pleased to be able to put our long established real estate expertise to work in a platform that allows investors to take advantage of what has been a sound asset class for the Company for the last seven decades,” added Mr. Adolphe. “We’ve had great interest in our fund platform since it launched in February 2011 and we’re encouraged by the significant capital we’ve raised to date for the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio. We are well positioned for continued growth.”

Manulife Real Estate is the global real estate arm of Manulife Financial Corporation, with 70 years of experience as an active investor, owner, developer and asset manager of commercial real estate. Its portfolio includes office, industrial as well as retail and multi-family residential properties located in key metropolitan centers throughout Canada, Asia and in the United States. As at Dec. 31, 2012, the Manulife Real Estate portfolio totaled more than 36 million square feet with a market value of C$9.1 billion.