WRI Weingarten Realty Investors

HOUSTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) announced today that it plans to sell 2,300,000 common shares of beneficial interest in an underwritten public offering. The company also plans to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 345,000 common shares of beneficial interest to cover overallotments, if any. All of the shares will be offered by Weingarten Realty Investors and will be issued under Weingarten Realty Investors' currently effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company will use the net proceeds to repay indebtedness outstanding under its revolving credit facilities and for other general corporate purposes. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley will serve as joint book-running managers, and Banc of America Securities LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets, Robert W. Baird & Co, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, LLC, Edward Jones, and Stifel Nicolaus will serve as co-managers, for the offering. A preliminary prospectus supplement and final prospectus supplement related to the public offering will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and final prospectus supplement, when available, may be obtained from Merrill Lynch & Co., 250 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10080 (telephone: 212-449-1000) or Morgan Stanley, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, Attn: Prospectus Department or by email at . This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus and related prospectus supplement. About Weingarten Realty Investors. Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) is an owner, manager and developer of commercial real estate. Weingarten is actively developing, acquiring, and intensively managing properties in 23 states that span the United States from coast-to-coast. As of June 30, 2008, the Company's portfolio of 414 properties included 334 neighborhood and community shopping centers, 77 industrial properties and three other operating properties. Including tenant-owned square footage, the Company's portfolio totaled approximately 73.5 million square feet under management. To learn more about the Company, please visit http://www.weingarten.com/. Forward-Looking Statements. Statements included herein that state the Company's or Management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which by their nature, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Reference is made to the Company's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information or factors that may impact the Company's performance. DATASOURCE: Weingarten Realty Investors CONTACT: Weingarten Realty Investors, +1-713-866-6000 Web site: http://www.weingarten.com/

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