and this explains why......management slashed the distribution. a 90% AFFO payout is completely reasonable within the reit universe. however that 90% payout gets quickly elevated when management starts selling assets that contribute significant cashflows.
and as far as selling price goes, if d.un previously bought scotia plaza for $1 and can ony fetch a roughly similar sale price, I'm sure managment is thinking, "well, thats better than the 30 cents the market is valuing scotia plaza at". Just for disclosure though, I really have no idea what Scotia will fetch.
lastly, with management selling prized assets, at a surprising speed, at the expense of the distribution, I am wondering if Dream was approached by a third party with a takeover offer. even now, with its move to just under $20 its market cap (2.1 billion) essentially made it a target for every single pension fund or real estate player looking for an entry or to add to their canadian portfolio. probably not as attractive a takeover target now in the middle of selling assets, including a portion of Scotia.