Forest City completes first phase of mall divestitures to QIC

CLEVELAND, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA) today announced the closing of the sale of its interest in Westchester's Ridge Hill, a 1.2 million-square-foot, open-air regional lifestyle center in Yonkers, NY; The Shops at Wiregrass, a 748,000-square-foot outdoor lifestyle village in Wesley Chapel, FL; and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. 

The sale of the two lifestyle centers mark the fifth and sixth mall divestitures, respectively, to close as part of Forest City's previously announced 10-mall portfolio transaction with QIC. The gross selling price for all the first tranche assets – six regional malls, plus the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World – was $1.243 billion, or $667.5 million at Forest City's share, and includes assumption by QIC of Forest City's share of debt on the assets of $335.0 million. 

The remaining four malls in the portfolio are expected to be transferred to QIC under a fixed-price option and to close as Forest City secures replacement assets or other opportunities into which it will redeploy its ownership stake in those malls. Gross option pricing on the second tranche assets is $1.932 billion, or $881.2 million, at Forest City's share, and includes assumption by QIC of Forest City's share of the debt on the four assets of $321.0 million.

In addition to the completion of the first phase of mall divestitures, the two companies completed the transition of associates in retail management and leasing, tenant coordination and property operations as well as associates in human resources, accounting and information technology, from Forest City to QIC. QIC has assumed management of all 10 of the malls, including the phase two assets. All required consents for the phase two assets have also been obtained.

"We've reached an important milestone in the continued execution of this mutually beneficial portfolio-level transaction with our partner, QIC," said David J. LaRue, Forest City president and chief executive officer. "The dispositions of our regional malls to QIC, and our specialty retail centers to Madison International Realty, are central to Forest City's strategic transformation as a focused, urban placemaker with a strong balance sheet and an exceptional portfolio of multifamily, office and mixed-use assets in great markets."

The final four malls in the portfolio, which are expected to transact as Forest City secures replacement assets, are Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, NV; Promenade Temecula in Temecula, CA; and Short Pump Town Centre in Richmond, VA.

About Forest City
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is a NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.1 billion in consolidated assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States.  For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.

Safe Harbor Language
Statements made in this news release that state the company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to various risks, uncertainties and other factors. Risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to carry out future transactions and strategic investments, as well as the acquisition related costs, unanticipated difficulties realizing benefits expected when entering into a transaction, the company's ability to qualify or to remain qualified as a REIT, its ability to satisfy REIT distribution requirements, the impact of issuing equity, debt or both, and selling assets to satisfy its future distributions required as a REIT or to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives, the impact of the amount and timing of any future distributions, the impact from complying with REIT qualification requirements limiting its flexibility or causing it to forego otherwise attractive opportunities beyond rental real estate operations, the impact of complying with the REIT requirements related to hedging, its lack of experience operating as a REIT, legislative, administrative, regulatory or other actions affecting REITs, including positions taken by the Internal Revenue Service, the possibility that the company's Board of Directors will unilaterally revoke its REIT election, the possibility that the anticipated benefits of qualifying as a REIT will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period, the impact of current lending and capital market conditions on its liquidity, its ability to finance or refinance projects or repay its debt, the impact of the slow economic recovery on the ownership, development and management of its commercial real estate portfolio, general real estate investment and development risks, litigation risks, vacancies in its properties, risks associated with developing and managing properties in partnership with others, competition, its ability to renew leases or re-lease spaces as leases expire, illiquidity of real estate investments, its ability to identify and transact on chosen strategic alternatives for a portion of its retail portfolio, bankruptcy or defaults of tenants, anchor store consolidations or closings, the impact of terrorist acts and other armed conflicts, its substantial debt leverage and the ability to obtain and service debt, the impact of restrictions imposed by the company's revolving credit facility, term loan and senior debt, exposure to hedging agreements, the level and volatility of interest rates, the continued availability of tax-exempt government financing, its ability to receive payment on the notes receivable issued by Onexim in connection with their purchase of our interests in the Barclays Center and the Nets, the impact of credit rating downgrades, effects of uninsured or underinsured losses, effects of a downgrade or failure of its insurance carriers, environmental liabilities, competing interests of its directors and executive officers, the ability to recruit and retain key personnel, risks associated with the sale of tax credits, downturns in the housing market, the ability to maintain effective internal controls, compliance with governmental regulations, increased legislative and regulatory scrutiny of the financial services industry, changes in federal, state or local tax laws and international trade agreements, volatility in the market price of its publicly traded securities, inflation risks, cybersecurity risks, cyber incidents, shareholder activism efforts, conflicts of interest, risks related to its organizational structure including operating through its Operating Partnership and its UPREIT structure, as well as other risks listed from time to time in the company's SEC filings, including but not limited to, the company's annual and quarterly reports.

On the Web:   
www.forestcity.net

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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.