TMX group

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REI.UN) ("RioCan") is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing acquisitions in Canada and the United States. RioCan has recently completed the acquisition of one new format retail centre in the United States ("US") at a purchase price of US$21.2 million (at 100%) equating to a cap rate of 7.9%. RioCan has waived conditions on three properties in Texas at an aggregate purchase price of US$138.1 million (at 100%), which equates to a cap rate of 7.1%. In addition, RioCan has executed Purchase and Sale Agreements and expects to complete the purchase of two additional properties that represent an aggregate of an additional US$52.2 million (at 100%) of acquisitions at a weighted average cap rate of approximately 6.5%. If completed, these transactions represent US$179.6 million of acquisitions at RioCan's interest at a weighted average cap rate of approximately 7.0%. In Canada, RioCan has waived conditions on one property in Ottawa, Ontario at a purchase price of $18 million (at 100%).

Since RioCan announced its first quarter 2011 results, RioCan has completed the following acquisition in the US:

Bird Creek Crossing

Bird Creek Crossing, located in Temple, Texas is a 125,000 square foot new format shopping centre. Temple, Texas is located midway between Austin and Dallas. The property is shadow anchored by a Target and a Home Depot. Other major tenants include Best Buy, Michael's, PetSmart and OfficeMax. The property has a weighted average lease term of 6.7 years. The property is owned on an 80/20 joint venture basis with Inland Western Retail REIT ("Inland Western") (80% RioCan / 20% Inland Western). Inland Western will manage the property on behalf of the co-ownership on terms similar to previous joint venture acquisitions. The property was acquired at a purchase price of US$21.2 million (100%), which equates to a cap rate of 7.9%. The joint venture expects to receive non-recourse first mortgage financing of approximately 55% of the purchase price.

RioCan has waived conditions pursuant to a Purchase and Sale agreement and expects to complete the following acquisition in the US:

Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square, located in the Dallas Fort-Worth submarket of Arlington Texas in close proximity to Cowboys Stadium home of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys, is a 444,500 square foot new format shopping centre. The property is anchored by Ross Dress for Less, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and PetSmart. Other national fashion retailers on the property include Stein Mart, Gap, Ann Taylor, and Lane Bryant. The weighted average lease term for the property is 4.2 years. The property will be acquired with Dunhill Partners ("Dunhill") on an 80/20 joint venture basis (80% RioCan / 20% Dunhill). Dunhill will manage the property on behalf of the co-ownership. The property is expected to be acquired at a purchase price of US$70.7 million (100%), which equates to a cap rate of 7.3%. The property is currently free and clear of financing. It is anticipated that 10 year financing will be in place for closing.

Property Commerce Portfolio

RioCan has waived conditions pursuant to a Purchase and Sale agreement for the acquisition of the Property Commerce Portfolio. The portfolio is composed of two properties located in Houston and the surrounding area as follows.

Sawyer Heights Village is a 107,500 square foot new format retail centre located in a high density area of downtown Houston Texas. The property is shadow anchored by Target. Other major tenants include Staples and PetSmart. The property has a weighted average lease term of 6.5 years. The property has a contracted purchase price of US$34 million (100%) which equates to a cap rate of approximately 6.3%. Upon lease-up of the newly constructed 12,400 square feet of vacancy, it is anticipated that the yield will be approximately 7%.

League City Towne Center is a 185,000 square foot new format retail centre located in the Houston Texas submarket of League City. The property is shadow anchored by a Super Target and Home Depot. Other major tenants include Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, Staples, Michaels and PetSmart. The property has a weighted average lease term of 7.0 years. The property has a contracted purchase price of US$33.4 million (100%) which equates to a cap rate of approximately 7.3%.

Both properties will be acquired with Inland Western and will be owned on an 80/20 joint venture basis (80% RioCan / 20% Inland Western). Inland Western will manage the properties on behalf of the co-ownership on terms similar to previous joint venture acquisitions. It is anticipated that both will be financed for a 10 year term on or shortly after closing.

RioCan has also executed Purchase and Sale agreements and expects to complete the following acquisitions in the US.

Huntington Square

Huntington Square, located in the Long Island, New York a community of East Northport, is a 116,200 square foot grocery anchored shopping centre. The property is anchored by Stop & Shop (Royal Ahold) on a land lease and a Best Buy. The term for both anchor tenants runs to 2023. RioCan will be acquiring a 100% interest in the property. It is anticipated that Cedar will manage the property on behalf of RioCan. The property is under contract at a purchase price of US$40.2 million, which equates to a cap rate of 6.2%.

Stop & Shop Plaza

Stop & Shop Plaza is located in Richmond, Rhode Island. The property is a 60,500 square foot grocery anchored centre anchored by at 55,500 square foot Stop & Shop grocery store and gas bar (expiry 2018). The other tenant at the centre is a 5,000 square foot Anytime Fitness (expiry 2014). RioCan will be acquiring a 100% interest in the property. It is anticipated that Cedar will manage the property on behalf of RioCan. The property is under contract at a purchase price of approximately US$12 million which equates to a cap rate of 7.4%.

It is expected that these transactions will be completed in the second or third quarter of 2011. These properties are in various stages of due diligence and while efforts will be made to complete these acquisitions, no assurance can be given.

Canadian Acquisitions

Herongate Mall

RioCan with its partner Trinity Development Group Inc. ("Trinity") has waived conditions pursuant to a Purchase and Sale agreement and expects to complete the purchase of Herongate Mall at a purchase price of $18 million (at 100%) during the third quarter of 2011. The property will be acquired on a 75/25 joint venture basis (75% RioCan / 25% Trinity). The property is situated on a 16 acre site in a mature area of Ottawa, Ontario. This is a redevelopment project, which when completed, will be anchored by many of the existing tenants at the property including, Metro, Pharma Plus, and Scotiabank.

Acquisition Pipeline

RioCan is currently in negotiations regarding property acquisitions in Canada and the US that, if completed, represent in excess of $350 million of additional acquisitions. These transactions are in various stages of negotiations and while efforts will be made to complete these acquisitions, no assurance can be given.

About RioCan

RioCan is Canada's largest real estate investment trust with a total capitalization of approximately $11.2 billion as at March 31, 2011. It owns and manages Canada's largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 300 retail properties, including 8 under development, containing an aggregate of over 70 million square feet. RioCan owns an 80% interest in 31 grocery anchored and new format retail centres in the United States through various joint venture arrangements. In addition, RioCan owns a 14% equity interest in Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on supermarket-anchored shopping centres and drug store-anchored convenience centres located predominantly in the Northeastern United States. For further information, please refer to RioCan's website at www.riocan.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This News Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements made in this News Release (including the section entitled "US Acquisitions", "Canadian Acquisitions", and "Acquisition Pipeline"), and other statements concerning RioCan's objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "objective", "may", "will", "would", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "plan", "continue", or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking statements in this News Release are qualified by these cautionary statements.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance and, by their nature, are based on RioCan's current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those described under "Risks and Uncertainties" in this News Release, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to: liquidity in the global marketplace associated with current economic conditions, tenant concentrations, occupancy levels, access to debt and equity capital, interest rates, joint ventures/partnerships, the relative illiquidity of real property, unexpected costs or liabilities related to acquisitions, construction, environmental matters, legal matters, reliance on key personnel, unitholder liability, income taxes, the investment in the United States of America ("US"), US currency and RioCan's qualification as a real estate investment trust for tax purposes. Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: a more robust retail environment compared to recent years; relatively stable interest costs; a continuing trend toward land use intensification in high growth markets; access to equity and debt capital markets to fund, at acceptable costs, the future growth program to enable the Trust to refinance debts as they mature; the availability of purchase opportunities for growth in Canada and the US; and the impact of accounting principles adopted by the Trust effective January 1, 2011 under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") which includes application to the Trust's 2010 comparative financial results. Although the forward-looking information contained in this News Release is based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Certain statements included in this News Release may be considered "financial outlook" for purposes of applicable securities laws, and such financial outlook may not be appropriate for purposes other than this News Release.

The Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Act") contains legislation affecting the tax treatment of publicly traded trusts (the "SIFT Legislation"). The SIFT Legislation will not impose tax on a trust which qualifies under such legislation as a real estate investment trust (the "REIT Exception"). RioCan currently qualifies for the REIT Exception and intends to continue to qualify for future years. Should this not occur, certain statements contained in this News Release may need to be modified.

Except as required by applicable law, RioCan under takes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.