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A&B PROPERTIES TO ACQUIRE SAVANNAH LOGISTICS CENTER
Links Matson Integrated Logistics’ Prowess with Industrial Real Estate
Expertise
HONOLULU – (November 12, 2007) – A&B Properties, Inc., the real estate
subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALEX), has entered into
a contract to purchase from Oakmont Industrial Group a one million
square-foot state of the art industrial complex currently under
construction in Savannah, Georgia, extending the company’s reach to a
burgeoning eastern port, further linking A&B’s real estate and logistics
businesses. The nearly $50 million transaction for Savannah Logistics
Center will be funded primarily using proceeds from recent and pending
real estate sales, including various tax-deferred sources, and is
expected to be concluded in the first quarter of 2008, once construction
is complete.
“This acquisition underscores our concerted strategy of diving deeper
into our customers’ value and supply chain,” said A&B Chairman and CEO
Allen Doane. “Including this acquisition, over three-fourths of A&B
Properties’ industrial holdings will be aligned with the considerable
logistics expertise and market penetration resident in our
transportation businesses, Matson Navigation and Matson Integrated
Logistics. In addition, we believe Savannah has tremendous potential as
a key East Coast port, with strong government support and a growing
distribution hub that will augment our investment returns.”
Over the last five years, the Port of Savannah has become the fifth
busiest container port in the United States and the second largest by
volume on the East Coast, having grown its container throughput by an
average of 15 percent per year, in lockstep with the dramatic rise of
U.S. trade with China. The Georgia Port Authority, which owns and
operates the port, forecasts that total container volume will double by
2015, to four million TEUs.
Norbert Buelsing, A&B Properties’ executive vice president in charge of
the company’s income portfolio, added, “We see a very good opportunity
that marries our development and property management expertise in the
industrial arena with the logistics acumen of our sister company, Matson
Integrated Logistics. This combination of real estate and logistics
expertise will create a unique value proposition for tenants and
customers alike.”
With the acquisition, A&B’s leased income/investment portfolio will
consist of approximately 7.6 million square feet of retail, office and
industrial space located in Hawaii (25 properties) and throughout the
mainland United States (23 properties).
About Alexander & Baldwin: Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., headquartered in
Honolulu, Hawaii is engaged in ocean transportation and logistics
services, through its subsidiaries, Matson Navigation Company, Inc. and
Matson Integrated Logistics, Inc.; in real estate, through A&B
Properties, Inc.; and in food products, through Hawaiian Commercial &
Sugar Company and Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. Additional information
about A&B may be found at its web site:
www.alexanderbaldwin.com.
A&B Properties is Hawaii’s fourth largest private landowner; its diverse
pipeline of projects is located on some of the 89,000 acres it owns in
Hawaii, or on lands more recently acquired or being developed in joint
ventures with third parties, including projects on Oahu, Maui, Kauai,
the Big Island and in California. Additional information may be found at
web site: www.abprop.com.
The seller, Oakmont Industrial Group, is a fully integrated developer of
industrial real estate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Additional
information may be found at web site:
http://www.oakmontre.com.
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated by the relevant forward-looking statement. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.
This release should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on
Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC through the date of this
release, which identify important factors that could affect the
forward-looking statements in this release.
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