- Appointment of Paul C.
Douglas as Chair of the Board
- Appointment of Ira Gluskin to
the Board
- Retirement of Bernard
McDonell
TORONTO, Feb. 7, 2023
/PRNewswire/ - First Capital announced today that it has appointed
Paul C. Douglas as Chair of the
REIT's Board of Trustees (the "Board") and Ira Gluskin as a Trustee. Bernard McDonell has retired from the Board
effective immediately, having served as a Trustee (previously
Director) since 2007 and Lead Independent Director from 2011-2019
when he was appointed Chair. This announcement comes as part
of the Board's ongoing strategic approach to refreshment and
planned Chair succession process that balances the need for fresh
perspectives with important historical continuity.
In February 2022, Mr. McDonell
approached the Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee about
his desire to retire the following year ahead of the 2023 Annual
General Meeting, which initiated a planned Chair succession process
that began in mid-2022. This process culminated in the
selection of Paul Douglas who, upon
indicating he would be able to take on the elevated role once his
retirement from TD Group was announced, was appointed as Chair of
the Board today.
"I want to thank Bernie on behalf of the entire Board for his
stewardship, mentorship of management, and many other important
contributions to the Board and to First Capital. I am honoured to
serve as Chair of First Capital at this important time and to
welcome Ira to the Board," said Mr. Douglas. "First Capital will
benefit from his extensive real estate and capital markets
experience." Mr. Douglas continued, "I fully believe in the
management team, the Optimization Plan and the direction the
company is taking. Unitholders can be assured that I and
every member of the Board and management team of First Capital will
continue to work tirelessly on behalf of all unitholders to execute
our strategic plan as an important step towards surfacing value
from the portfolio and maintaining the highest quality growth
opportunities for our unitholders."
Mr. Douglas joined the Board as an independent trustee in 2019
as part of the Board's active refreshment program and currently
serves on the Audit Committee and Corporate Governance Committee.
Mr. Douglas recently announced his upcoming retirement at the end
of April 2023 as Group Head, Canadian
Business Banking at TD Bank Group ("TD"), managing over
$100 billion of assets and which
includes Small Business and Commercial Banking (including the
National Real Estate Group and Commercial Mortgage Group) and TD
Auto Finance. Mr. Douglas has had a distinguished career at TD for
over 45 years, during which time he has held positions of
increasing responsibility in a number of areas including as a
member of the Senior Executive Team, founding and leading the Real
Estate Group in TD Securities, retail banking, commercial banking,
corporate banking, investment banking and risk management.
Mr. Gluskin is the Chief Investment Officer of Irager +
Associates Inc., a family office overseeing strategy and
investments, and the co-founder of Gluskin Sheff +
Associates Inc. ("Gluskin Sheff"), one of Canada's pre-eminent wealth management firms
focusing on the high net worth private client market. Mr. Gluskin
served as the firm's President and Chief Investment Officer from
June 30, 1984 until December 31, 2009, and as a Director and the
firm's Vice-Chairman through December 18,
2013. Before co-founding Gluskin Sheff, Mr. Gluskin
worked in the investment industry for 20 years and was a highly
ranked real estate securities analyst at a leading Canadian
investment dealer. Mr. Gluskin serves on the Board of Directors of
Tricon Residential (TSX: TCN) and the Board of Trustees of European
Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX-V: ERE.UN) and is a
member of the Advisory Board of Vision Capital Corporation and the
University of Toronto's Real Estate
Advisory Committee.
First Capital is focused on ensuring that its strategy will
deliver unitholders a strong return on their investment. In
keeping with this responsibility, the Board's approach to
refreshment is to ensure it has the right mix of individuals with
the diverse expertise and experience needed to guide First
Capital. It is important First Capital is able to leverage
the deep industry knowledge present within its esteemed group of
trustees while bringing on new trustees to ensure First Capital is
constantly challenging the status quo.
Since 2019, five of the nine trustees at First Capital,
including the Chair, have joined the Board as part of ongoing
refreshment efforts. Consistent with the Board's proactive
and thoughtful approach to refreshment that identified Mr. Gluskin
as an exceptional trustee candidate, the Board has been utilizing
the services of a highly respected executive and board search firm,
Tom Long Consulting Inc. and intends to continue, as it always has,
with regular board renewal and enhancement in the interest of all
unitholders. First Capital will continue to engage its
unitholders to gain their perspectives, concerns and ideas to
ensure the highest standard of governance excellence.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT ADVISORY
This press release contains forward-looking statements and
information within the meaning of applicable securities law. These
forward-looking statements are not historical facts but, rather,
reflect First Capital's current expectations and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to differ
materially from current expectations. Such risks and uncertainties
include, among others, general economic conditions; tenant
financial difficulties, defaults and bankruptcies; increases in
operating costs, property taxes and income taxes; First Capital's
ability to maintain occupancy and to lease or re-lease space at
current or anticipated rents; development, intensification and
acquisition activities; residential development, sales and leasing;
risks in joint ventures; unitholder activism; environmental
liability and compliance costs and uninsured losses; and risks and
uncertainties related to the impact of the ongoing pandemic,
epidemics or other outbreaks on First Capital which are described
in First Capital's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022 under the heading "Risks and
Uncertainties - Ongoing Pandemic, Epidemics or New Outbreaks".
Additionally, forward-looking statements are subject to those risks
and uncertainties discussed in First Capital's MD&A for the
year ended December 31, 2022 and in
its current Annual Information Form. Readers, therefore, should not
place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.
First Capital undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
such forward-looking statement or to reflect new information or the
occurrence of future events or circumstances except as required by
applicable securities law. All forward-looking statements in this
press release are made as of the date hereof and are qualified by
these cautionary statements.
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SOURCE First Capital REIT