Walton Edgemont Development Corporation (the "Corporation") announced today that it completed its initial public offering, issuing 2,577,200 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit for gross proceeds of $25,772,000. Each Unit is comprised of $7.50 principal amount of 8% unsecured, subordinated, convertible, extendible debentures (the "Debentures") and one Class B non-voting common share of the Corporation having a price of $2.50 (the "Shares").
Proceeds of the offering will be used to purchase interests in the approximately 198.8-acre "Edgemont" properties (the "Properties") located in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Corporation has been established to provide purchasers with the opportunity to participate in the returns available from development of the Properties. Walton Asset Management L.P. ("WAM"), the manager of the Corporation, believes that the Properties are strategically located and that investors can benefit from this development opportunity. The Corporation's investment objectives are to (i) preserve the capital investment of the purchasers in the Units; (ii) make annual cash distributions on the Units (comprised of payments of interest and/or principal on the Debentures and/or dividends or other distributions on the Shares) beginning in September 2012 until the completion of the project, which is anticipated to be in December 2016; and (iii) achieve a net internal rate of return of 13.5% on the $10.00 purchase price of the Units under the offering from the cash distributions referred to in (ii) above.
The Corporation intends to meet its investment objectives through a four-step strategy:
(i) acquire the Properties, (ii) obtain contractual commitments from homebuilders to purchase lots to be serviced in each of the four planned phases of the development of the Properties before construction commences on that phase, (iii) construct municipal services infrastructure on the Properties in phases to provide a controlled supply of serviced lots to the marketplace, and (iv) use the revenue from the sale of the serviced lots to repay construction loans and other obligations of the Corporation and then pay the remainder to the holders of the Debentures and Shares by paying the interest and principal on the Debentures and by declaring a dividend or dividends on the Shares and/or winding up the Corporation and distributing its assets to the holders of the Shares.
The Corporation will be managed by WAM and the development of the Properties will be managed by Walton Development and Management L.P., both of which are part of the Walton Group.
The syndicate of agents for this offering includes CIBC and BMO Capital Markets (as Co-Lead Agents) and Scotia Capital Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Canaccord Genuity Corp., HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Laurentian Bank Securities Inc., Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., Raymond James Ltd., Desjardins Securities Inc., Burgeonvest Bick Securities Limited and Mackie Research Capital Corporation.
About Walton: In business for more than 30 years, the Walton Group currently manages approximately CAD $2.8 billion of pre-development and development real estate assets, including more than 60,000 acres of land in Alberta, Ontario, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland on behalf of investors around the world, including primarily North America, Europe and Asia and for the Walton Group. Headquartered in Calgary, the Walton Group has over 800 employees in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany.
For more information about the Walton Edgemont Development Corporation Initial Public Offering, please visit www.sedar.com. For more information about the Walton Group, please visit www.Walton.com.
This news release, required by Canadian laws, does not constitute an offer of securities, and is not for distribution or dissemination outside Canada. This offering was only made by prospectus, only to Canadian residents, and only as permitted by law. This news release contains forward looking information and actual future results may differ from the Corporation's objectives. The risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results are described in the prospectus dated June 27, 2011, which contains important detailed information about the securities being offered, and which investors should read before making an investment decision. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained from any dealer as may lawfully offer these securities or by contacting your financial advisor. The prospectus is also available online at www.sedar.com.
Contacts:
Walton Edgemont Development Corporation
Blair Nixon,
1-403-265-4255
BNixon@Walton.com