RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Green Bond Offering Issuance of $500 Million 5.5-year of Series AD Senior Unsecured Debentures at an Annual Coupon Rate of 1.974%

TORONTO, December 9, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – The RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (“RioCan” or the “Trust”) (TSX: REI.UN) announced today that it has agreed to invest a nominal amount of € 500 million . USD to issue in respect of the AD Series Senior Unsecured Notes (the “Notes”). This issue is RioCan’s second green bond offering.

The Notes are being offered on an agency basis by a consortium of agents jointly managed by TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets and Scotia Capital Inc. The bonds will be sold at face value with a coupon of 1.974% per annum and due on June 15, 2026. Subject to customary closing conditions, the offering is expected to close on December 14, 2020.

The Series AD Notes are issued as green bonds under the RioCan Green Bond Framework, which Sustainalytics, a world leader in the provision of ESG research and analysis, in its independent third-party opinion as using the Green Bond of International Capital Markets Association has reviewed and confirmed Principles 2018. The RioCan Green Bond Framework and the corresponding independent second opinion from Sustainalytics can be found on the Sustainability page on the RioCan website www.riocan.com under “About Us”.

RioCan intends to use an amount equal to the net proceeds of this offering to fund all or part of expenses related to eligible green projects as described in RioCan’s Green Bond Framework. Prior to allocating the net proceeds from this offering to Eligible Green Projects, the net proceeds may initially be used in part or in full to repay certain RioCan’s credit facilities and will ultimately be allocated to Eligible Green Projects as described in the RioCan’s Green Bond Framework.

The prerequisite for closing is that DBRS Limited has assigned a rating of BBB (high) with a negative trend and Standard & Poor’s a rating of BBB for the bonds with no negative change in the outlook for the corporate rating assigned to RioCan.

The offering is being made on a private placement basis in each of the provinces of Canada and the Notes will be issued pursuant to the RioCan’s Trust Indenture dated March 8, 2005 in the Supplement. The Notes will rank pari passu with any other senior unsecured debt of the Trust.

The bonds offered have not been registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. The press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor may any sale of the Securities take place in any country in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About RioCan
RioCan is one of Canada’s largest real estate mutual funds. RioCan owns, manages, and develops retail-oriented, increasingly mixed-use properties in prime, high-density, transit-oriented areas where Canadians want to shop, live and work. As of September 30, 2020, our portfolio includes 221 properties with total rental space of approximately 38.4 million square feet (in the interests of RioCan), including office, rental and 16 development properties. To find out more about us, please visit www.riocan.com.

Forward-looking information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. This information reflects RioCan’s goals, our strategies to achieve those goals, and statements regarding management’s beliefs, estimates, and intentions with respect to expected future events or expectations that are not historical facts. Forward-looking information can generally be identified through the use of forward-looking terms such as “outlook”, “goal”, “may”, “will”, “dignity”, “expectation”, “intention”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe” , “should,” “plan,” “continue,” or similar expressions indicative of future results or events.

This forward-looking information reflects management’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking information in this press release is qualified by these cautionary statements.

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future events or performance and is, by its nature, based on RioCan’s current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including the MD&A for the period ended December 30 as described in the “Risks and Uncertainties” section of RioCan. September 2020 and in our latest annual information form, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Although the forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on reasonable assumptions made by management, there can be no guarantee that actual results will correspond to these forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak as of the date of this press release and should not be taken as a representation of the views of RioCan at any time after the date of this press release. Management is under no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information unless required by law, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

For more information, please contact: Qi Tang Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (416) 866-3033