Slate’s management has also called for a special meeting on Dec. 29 to seek approval from unitholders to amend its declaration of trust to remove the restriction which caps the REIT’s indebtedness at 65 per cent of gross book value.
“The thought process . . . was, obviously given where we repriced our portfolio this quarter, the loan-to-value is over that threshold," chief financial officer Robert Armstrong said during the analyst call. "We’re appreciative of our banking syndicate working with us very constructively to move forward on that point.
"But what we have communicated broadly to them and what we have communicated to the market is we want to, our first goal is to execute on our disposition and portfolio realignment plan, for the purpose of raising capital to repay debt and we are hoping that that reduces leverage to a more appropriate level that’s acceptable and continues to have the support of our banking partners.”
If passed, the board intends to adopt new operating guidelines to determine the appropriate financial leverage of the REIT.