Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. Announces Results of Annual Shareholder Meeting; Discusses 2014 & 2015 Highlights ...
June 05 2015 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHLR)
(“Wheeler” or the “Company”) today announced the results of its
2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, held on June 4, 2015 in
Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Shareholders approved a number of measures at the meeting,
including:
- The conversion of the Company’s Series
C Mandatorily Convertible Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock and
the issuance of the Company’s common stock upon such
conversion;
- The election for one-year terms of all
those parties nominated to the Board of Directors, including: Jon
S. Wheeler, Christopher J. Ettel, David Kelly, William W. King,
Kurt R. Harrington, Carl B. McGowan, Jr., Ann L. McKinney, and
Jeffrey M. Zwerdling;
- The ratification of the appointment of
Cherry Bekaert LLP as the Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2015; and
- The approval of the Company’s 2015
Long-Term Incentive Plan.
2014 Highlights
During the meeting, Wheeler’s Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Jon S. Wheeler, noted the Company’s growth during
2014. “Since our IPO in 2012, Wheeler has focused on acquiring
retail focused properties in our targeted secondary and tertiary
markets at favorable prices that we expect to immediately add to
the Company’s gross revenues. Our experience has shown that these
markets typically are less impacted by fluctuations in the economy
as most of the tenants focus on ‘necessity-based’ products or
services. In 2014, Wheeler increased its gross leasable area by
over 620,000 square feet. We also focused on streamlining our
operations to both properly manage this growth while simultaneously
building the foundation for profits in the future. We launched a
regional office in South Carolina and internalized our operating
entities, which has helped to improve our tenant service in a
cost-effective manner. It was a milestone year of expansion, and we
believe the Company emerged stronger than at any point in our
history.”
2015 Strategy
Mr. Wheeler continued, “Presently, we are managing a current
portfolio of 42 properties with approximately 2.4 million square
feet of Gross Leasable Area. Nearly 90% of these properties are
anchored or shadow-anchored by a grocery store, with occupancy
rates averaging approximately 95% since our IPO. Going forward, we
understand the need to build sufficient scale, increase net
operating income, and ultimately achieve increased levels of
profitability. In March, we successfully raised $90 million in
gross proceeds from our private placement transaction, and the
proceeds raised have allowed us to close three acquisitions. In
addition, we are either under contract or letter of intent on
another ten properties. We are specifically targeting the
acquisition of properties that meet our criteria of service
oriented retail in secondary and tertiary markets that we believe
will add incremental and immediate value to the trust.”
Mr. Wheeler concluded, “We thank each of our shareholders for
their participation in the Annual Meeting and always welcome
additional feedback. We will continue to leverage our excellent
leasing, property management and development expertise to grow the
size of the Company in a sustainable fashion while generating
returns for our shareholders.”
About Wheeler Real Estate Investment
Trust Inc.
Headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, Wheeler Real Estate
Investment Trust, Inc. is a fully-integrated, self-managed
commercial real estate investment company focused on acquiring and
managing income-producing retail properties with a primary focus on
grocery-anchored centers. Wheeler’s portfolio contains
well-located, potentially dominant retail properties in secondary
and tertiary markets that generate attractive risk-adjusted
returns, with a particular emphasis on grocery-anchored retail
centers.
Additional information about Wheeler Real Estate Investment
Trust, Inc. can be found at the Company’s corporate website:
www.whlr.us.
Forward-looking
Statement
The Company considers portions of the information in this press
release relating to its business operations, benefits from the
acquisition of properties, acquisition strategy and its target
markets to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended. Although the
Company believes that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions,
it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved.
For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.
Specifically, the Company's statements the anticipated
implementation of the Company’s acquisition strategy and the future
generation of value to the Company from the acquisition of service
oriented retail properties in secondary and tertiary markets are
forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors
that could cause the Company's operations to differ from those
indicated by such forward-looking statements, including, among
other factors, local conditions such as oversupply of space or a
reduction in demand for real estate in the area; competition from
other available space; dependence on rental income from real
property; the loss of, significant downsizing of or bankruptcy of a
major tenant; constructing properties or expansions that produce a
desired yield on investment; the Company's ability to renew or
enter into new leases at favorable rates; its ability to buy or
sell assets on commercially reasonable terms; its ability to
complete acquisitions or dispositions of assets under contract; its
ability to secure equity or debt financing on commercially
acceptable terms or at all; the Company's ability to enter into
definitive agreements with regard to its financing and joint
venture arrangements or its failure to satisfy conditions to the
completion of these arrangements and the success of its capital
recycling strategy. For additional factors that could cause the
operations of the Company to differ materially from those indicated
in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which are
available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date
hereof.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150605005306/en/
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust,
Inc.Robin Hanisch, 757-627-9088Corporate
Secretaryrobin@whlr.usorLaura Nguyen, 757-627-9088Director of
Capital Marketslnguyen@whlr.usorINVESTOR RELATIONS:The Equity Group Inc.Terry Downs,
212-836-9615Associatetdowns@equityny.comorAdam Prior,
212-836-9606Senior Vice-Presidentaprior@equityny.com
Wheeler Real Estate Inve... (NASDAQ:WHLR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Wheeler Real Estate Inve... (NASDAQ:WHLR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024