Homburg Invest Inc. announces joint venture with Cedar Shopping Centres Inc. of the United States

HALIFAX, Dec. 10 /CNW/ - (TSX: HII.A & HII.B and AEX:HII) - Richard Homburg, Chairman and CEO of Homburg Invest Inc. ("Homburg Invest") announces that Homburg Invest, through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, has closed its joint venture arrangement with Cedar Shopping Centres Inc. (NYSE: CDR) ("Cedar"), a U.S. real estate investment trust.

Under the terms of the joint venture, Homburg Invest has acquired an 80% interest in the joint venture and Cedar will retain the remaining 20% interest. Cedar will manage the properties and will receive fees with respect to its management.

"We are very happy to be entering this joint venture with Cedar Shopping Centres," said Richard Homburg. "They are a developer of quality retail properties and a well respected operator. These assets will help us increase our exposure to the US market, and we are optimistic that this will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship."

The properties, valued at approximately US$170 million, involve eight shopping centers in Pennsylvania, including Cedar's recently-completed ground-up shopping center development in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and one property in Massachusetts. Seven of the nine properties are anchored by Giant or Stop & Shop supermarkets, affiliates of Ahold NV based in the Netherlands.

Homburg, with its head office in Halifax, N.S., owns and develops a diversified portfolio of quality real estate, including office, retail, industrial and residential properties throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. The Company's properties total over 16.1 million square feet, representing in excess of C$3.5 billion in total assets. For information on Homburg Invest Inc., visit our website at www.homburginvest.com.

This news release may contain statements which by their nature are forward looking and express the Company's beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future performance, future events or trends. Forward looking statements are made by the Company in good faith, given management's expectations or intentions however, they are subject to market conditions, acquisitions, occupancy rates, capital requirements, sources of funds, expense levels, operating performance and other matters. Therefore, forward looking statements contain assumptions which are subject to various factors including: unknown risks and uncertainties: general economic conditions; local market factors; performance of other third parties; environmental concerns; and interest rates, any of which may cause actual results to differ from the Company's good faith beliefs, expectations or intentions which have been expressed in or may be implied from this news release. Therefore, forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks. Information and statements in this document, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and reflect management's current views of future events and financial performance that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions and developments within the real estate industry, competition and the management of growth. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.