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Slate Office REIT terminates its managers early, plans rebrand
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SLATE OFFICE REIT TERMINATES ITS MANAGERS EARLY, PLANS REBRAND

David Milstead
Published December 25, 2024Updated 3 hours ago
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Slate Office REIT says it’s reached a deal to terminate its managers by year’s
end – earlier than planned – and is launching a rebranding with a new chief
executive officer.

The Toronto-based real estate investment trust said Tuesday that Slate
Management ULC, the REIT’s external manager, will depart on Dec. 31. Shant
Poladian, who joined the trust’s board in November, will then be appointed as
CEO. With Slate Management’s departure, the trust plans to rename itself Ravelin
Properties REIT.

The REIT will make a $2-million payment to Slate Management to move the
termination date forward, from March 30, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2024. The REIT says
the amount is the present value of the payments for the first three months of
2025.

It’s the latest victory for activist investor and trustee George Armoyan, who
effectively took control of the REIT in October. That was about two years after
he revealed that he had acquired 15.8 per cent of the trust, plus convertible
debt that could boost his ownership further. He subsequently waged a campaign to
replace multiple trustees.

After a brief peace, Mr. Armoyan battled again this year with Slate Management,
run by brothers Blair Welch and Brady Welch. Both men served as trustees of the
REIT, and Brady was the REIT’s CEO. Mr. Armoyan said the trust has badly
underperformed its peers over the past decade while the Welches’ company has
collected $132-million in management fees.

In October, the Welches resigned from their executive and board roles with the
trust and said Slate Management would terminate its agreement with the REIT.
Units in the trust skyrocketed nearly 50 per cent on the news, closing at 85
cents apiece on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They closed Dec. 24 at 41 cents
apiece, up 12 per cent in Christmas Eve trading.

The REIT has debt of more than $1.1-billion and a market capitalization of
$33-million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Fees paid by the REIT to Slate Management totalled $20.7-million in 2022 and
$13.7-million in 2023.

In a statement, Mr. Armoyan, who now chairs the REIT’s board, said the change
“will significantly reduce costs for the REIT by eliminating the fees payable
under the management agreement and better align the interests of management with
the REIT’s unitholders to drive long-term value.”

The deal announced Tuesday also allows the REIT to offer employment to certain
employees of Slate Management and terminates Slate Management’s trustee
nomination rights.



Mr. Poladian, a director of Killam Apartment REIT, is managing director of
Springhurst Capital Corp., a real estate advisory firm, and CEO and co-founder
of Junction Realty Partners Inc., described as a boutique private equity and
real estate firm that develops mini-midrise residential rentals in Toronto. He’s
also on the boards of Jo-Jo Capital Canada Ltd. and Canna 8 Investment Trust,
according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In a statement, Mr. Armoyan said Mr. Poladian “has been actively involved in
guiding the REIT through the management internalization process,” allowing for
the accelerated termination.

The REIT expects its name change to Ravelin Properties to become effective Dec.
31, with a change in its ticker symbols on the TSX from SOT.UN to RPR.UN. Three
classes of publicly traded debentures will also adopt the RPR ticker.


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