Primaris REIT
In January 2013, H&R offered to purchase Primaris REIT, a Canadian REIT primarily owning enclosed shopping malls, for $2.7 billion, or $27.5 a share.[9] Primaris had previously received a hostile takeover offer led by KingSett Capital for $26 a share.[9] Primaris, originally called Borealis Retail REIT, had been founded through a spin-off of several retail properties owned by the Ontario Municipal Employees System (rebranded as OMERS) in 2003.[10] It owned 43 enclosed shopping malls at the time of the proposed acquisition, while H&R primarily owned office buildings and power centres.[2] H&R and KingSett eventually agreed to split Primaris between them, with H&R getting approximately 25 properties worth $3.1 billion and rights to the Primaris name, while the KingSett group received 18 properties worth $1.8 billion.[11] With the reduced deal, H&R failed to become the largest Canadian REIT, as it would have been under the initial deal.[11]
As part of a broader restructuring initiative at H&R in 2021, Primaris REIT was spun-off as a stand-alone REIT effective December 31, 2021. Concurrent with the spin-out, Primaris acquired six shopping centres from Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan for $800 million, with the pension plan receiving approximately 26 million units of Primaris REIT, making it the largest unitholder.
In June 2023, Primaris announced its first acquisition after the spin-out, acquiring Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, Ontario for $270 million from Ivanhoe Cambridge, with the vendor receiving units in Primaris as partial consideration.
In November 2023, Primaris REIT acquired Halifax Shopping Centre for $370 million.[12]
In September 2024 Primaris REIT announced its acquisition of les Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City for $325 million,[13] bringing total mall acquisitions since 2021 to $1.76 billion. The acquisition closed October 1, 2024, and on October 2 Primaris announced a $75 million bought deal equity offering of the units that were contractually due as consideration for the acquisition, monetizing the vendor's ownership in the REIT. The offering was Primaris' first public equity offering since the spin-off.
January 31, 2025 Primaris REIT acquired a 50% interest in Edmonton’s Southgate Centre and a 100% interest in Oshawa Centre, in the eastern GTA for $585 million.[14] It also highlighted a number of dispositions, as the REIT recycled capital from lower productivity malls into top tier malls.
On June 17, 2025 Primaris acquired Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton, Ontario for $416 million.[15] The acquisition marked $1 billion of acquisitions in 2025, $2 billion of acquisitions since 2023, and $2.8 billion of acquisitions since the spin-off at the end of 2021.
On October 10, 2025 Primaris acquired Promenades St. Bruno in Montreal’s south shore for $565 million,[16] bringing 2025 acquisitions to almost $1.6 billion, and total acquisitions since 2021 to over $3.3 billion.
