TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 21, 2012) -

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Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust ("Primaris") (TSX:PMZ.UN) announced today that it has filed and received a receipt for a preliminary short-form base shelf prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Once a final receipt for the final short form base prospectus has been obtained, this will enable Primaris, subject to compliance with securities regulatory requirements, to offer for sale and issue trust units, subscription receipts, warrants and debt securities, including unsecured debentures and convertible debentures having an offer price up to $900 million in the aggregate at any time during the 25 month period that the final short form base shelf prospectus, including any amendments thereto, remains effective. The securities may be offered separately or together, in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined based on market conditions at the time of sale and set forth in an accompanying shelf prospectus supplement.

Primaris further announces that it has completed the previously announced redemption of the outstanding 5.85% Convertible Unsecured Subordinated Debentures (PMZ.DB.A) on August 17, 2012. Since the redemption notice was issued on July 18, 2012, $84.02 million of debentures converted into 3,725,846 units. The redemption was then completed for a total payment of $9.48 million on account of principal and accrued interest.

After giving effect to this redemption and other debenture conversions that have taken place since June 30, 2012, Primaris has a pro forma Debt to Total Assets ratio at June 30, 2012 of 40.7% as compared to the reported ratio of 43.5%. Similarly, Primaris has a pro forma EBITDA Interest Coverage Ratio for the three month period ended June 30, 2012 of 2.7 times coverage as compared to the reported ratio of 2.5 times coverage, after giving effect to the redemption and conversions as though they had occurred on March 31, 2012. EBITDA is not a measure defined under IFRS and may not be comparable to measures presented by other issuers. For a discussion of EBITDA, including a reconciliation of EBITDA to net income, please see Primaris MD&A for the 3 and 6 month periods ended June 30, 2012.

Primaris Retail REIT owns 33 income-producing properties comprising approximately 13.7 million square feet located in Canada. Primaris Retail REIT is a TSX listed real estate investment trust. As of July 31, 2012, Primaris had 91,133,589 units outstanding (including 2,122,261 exchangeable units for which units have yet to be issued).

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