UPDATED WITH NEW DETAILS: Cadillac Fairview continues divesting major shopping centres, and Primaris REIT (PMZ-UN-T) continues acquiring them.

So it is no surprise Toronto-based Primaris has been announced as the buyer for the Promenades St-Bruno in Montreal, which was put onto the market by Cadillac Fairview earlier this year. Primaris is acquiring the property for $565 million in a cash and share equity transaction.

Primaris will pay $320 million in cash upon closing, and is also offering of a total of $245 million of its units in two separate offerings to finance the remainder of the purchase price.

“Promenades St-Bruno has all the characteristics which Primaris targets in acquisitions: over $271 million in annual sales, $917 in sales per square foot, and 154 acres of land in Canada’s second largest and growing market of Montreal, adjacent to mass transit,” Patrick Sullivan, president and chief operating officer of Primaris, said in the announcement late Monday afternoon.

“There is significant NOI growth potential including leasing up vacant and temporarily tenanted space, and optimizing former department store space.”

Promenades St-Bruno is one of numerous shopping centres across Canada which saw its Hudson Bay department store close earlier this year when that company entered bankruptcy.

Primaris an active shopping centre buyer

Primaris has been the most active publicly traded acquirer of enclosed shopping centres in Canada during the past couple of years, with $3.3 billion of acquisitions since 2021.

“Primaris’ high quality acquisitions exceed $1.5 billion in 2025 and $3.3 billion since 2021. All of these acquisitions offer strong NOI growth potential and significant excess land,” Alex Avery, the REIT’s chief executive officer, said in the announcement. “We have materially expanded, and enhanced the overall quality of our enclosed shopping centre portfolio since 2021, driving the portfolio’s pro forma annual same store sales productivity to $791 per square foot. 

“The concurrent equity offering increases Primaris’ public float and enhances the trading liquidity of Primaris’ units, to the benefit of all unitholders.”

The offering which will finance a portion of the acquisition has two distinct components:

• $160 million of series A units at $21.40 per unit (the “Issue Price”); and
• $85 million of exchangeable preferred units at six per cent interest, in a subsidiary limited partnership, exchangeable into series A trust units.

Including an over-allotment option, a total of 11,448,599 REIT units are to be issued.

The acquisition is expected to close on Oct. 10, subject to customary closing conditions.

About Promenades St-Bruno

The two-level Promenades St-Bruno shopping centre is one of the largest and most dominant in Quebec, comprising approximately 1.1 million square feet and located in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.

The mall was constructed in 1978 and expanded in 1991 and covers just 11 per cent of the land area, leaving significant room for future expansion or intensification. It has about 200,000 square feet of vacant space, including the former HBC store.

It contains over 200 stores and services including the CF Marche des Promenades market, which was constructed to fill space vacated by the demise of the Sears chain. It serves 12.2 million visitors each year.

Its former owner has invested about $227 million in capital upgrades and redevelopment projects since 2015, including repurposing of the former Sears store and creating a two-level flagship Simons store. Anchors at the BOMA Best Gold-certified mall include Simons, Winners, Sports Experts and Marks; along with other major stores including Aritzia, Sephora, Lululemon, Nespresso, Uniqlo and JD Sports.

CF has been selling major shopping properties across the country as it rebalances its investment portfolios. It most recently has sold a 50 per cent stake in CF Masonville Place in London, Ont. to KingSett Capital, and the Lime Ridge mall in Hamilton for $416 million to Primaris.

Late in 2024, it made two major mall sales to Westcliff. It first sold the former CF Champlain Place in Dieppe, N.B., in October, and then in December divested the CF Fairview Park in Kitchener, Ont.

Primaris and the Canadian retail sector

Primaris is Canada’s only enclosed shopping centre-focused REIT, with ownership interests in a portfolio totalling 15.6 million square feet, valued at approximately $5.4 billion at Primaris’ share.

At the same time CF was divesting two of its properties in fall 2024, Primaris was expanding its portfolio with the acquisition of Les Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City for $325 million from Oxford Properties.

Early in 2025, it then announced the acquisitions of Southgate Centre in Edmonton (50 per cent interest) and the Oshawa Centre in the Greater Toronto Area (100 per cent interest) for $585 million from Cadillac Fairview.

The transaction activity comes amid a very robust retail leasing sector, despite the demise of Hudson Bay. Two new retailers have entered (or re-entered) the Canadian department store sector in recent weeks. Formerly defunct Zellers has come back to life under new ownership and is about to open its first store in Edmonton; while South African discount retailer Panda Mart has leased a former home and building supply centre in Toronto for its first Canadian store.

In an interview with RENX following the demise of HBC, Avery alluded to the ongoing resilience of the retail sector, and noted that with little new space coming onto the market, leasing demand for well-located, vacant properties remains strong.

“If you look at the results that get published by RioCan, First Capital, SmartCentres, Crombie, Choice, CT and ourselves, there's clearly strong demand from retailers,” Avery said. “There's not a lot of retail space available in Canada so, when you have a tight market, it's easier to get things done and get them done quickly because everyone is acting with a sense of urgency."