ABRI Abrams Industries (MM)

Abrams Announces Sale of Investment Property ATLANTA, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ABRAMS INDUSTRIES, INC. , an energy management, construction and real estate company, today announced the sale of Merchants Crossing Shopping Center of North Fort Myers, Florida, for a price of $21.8 million, resulting in a pre-tax gain of approximately $4.1 million and net cash proceeds of approximately $10.6 million. The center, developed and constructed by the Company in the early 1990s, is co-anchored by AMC, Beall's, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Kmart. The sale did not include any of the Company's adjacent land holdings. "Our Company's primary goal is to create long-term value for our shareholders," stated Alan R. Abrams, Co-Chairman, President & CEO. "With thesuccessful completion of the long-planned sale of this Company-developed investment property, we were able to obtain an excellent price from the current favorable real estate markets and capture the value we created. "This transaction is an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to strategically reposition Abrams Industries. Consistent with our prior real estate sales, we intend to re-deploy the capital created by this development through additional investments in income producing properties andthrough additional strategic acquisitions like our recent purchase of The Wheatstone Energy Group. "For example, we have entered into a binding contract to purchase a high- quality fully-leased professional office building located in a fast growing submarket of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. We expect to close on this deal in the next few weeks. Separately, we are in the advanced stages of discussions to acquire a small, specialized engineering company to complement our existing energy management practice. In addition to these and other strategic initiatives, we are considering several other potential uses for a portion of the sales proceeds." Established in 1925, Abrams Industries, operating nationwide through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides a variety of energy management and construction services to building owners and operators and engages in commercial real estate investment and development. In energy management, the Company offers engineering services, maintenance management solutions, and turnkey implementation of energy saving lighting programs and related services to help commercial, institutional, hospitality, industrial and retail customers reduce energy consumption and building operating and maintenance costs. In construction, the Company offers a wide range of construction services, including program management, construction management and general construction of retail stores, shopping centers, banks, office buildings, and distribution and manufacturing facilities, and engages in other types of commercial construction. In real estate, the Company currently owns or controls approximately 1.1 million square feet of shopping centers in the Midwest and Southeast and approximately 200,000 square feet of office properties in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. For more information about Abrams Industries, please visit http://www.abramsindustries.com/ or call 770-953-0304. Certain statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such forward- looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other matters which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Abrams Industries, Inc. to be materially different from any past or future results, performance, or uncertainties expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements. Abrams Industries, Inc. does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Abrams Industries, Inc. CONTACT:Alan R. Abrams, Co-Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Abrams Industries, Inc., +1-770-953-0304, or Web site: http://www.abramsindustries.com/

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