Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust is searching for a new chief executive while shifting more cash toward debt repayment, a move that cuts unitholder distributions as the Canadian property trust changes its board.
In a Nov. 11 announcement, Allied said President and CEO Cecilia Williams will stay in the role while the company looks for a successor. The company named no candidates and did not set a timetable for the search.
Donald Clow has been named vice-chair. Allied expects him to become chair after the May 2027 annual meeting; the transition depends on his re-election as a trustee and approval by the board. The trust expects new trustees to hold a majority of board seats after the meeting.
The Nov. 11 announcement also recorded Hazel Claxton and Kay Brekken stepping down as trustees and named Leonard M. Abramsky and Dayna Gibbs as new trustees. It did not specify when Claxton and Brekken's departures took effect. Abramsky has more than 40 years of experience in investment banking and commercial real estate investment; Gibbs has more than 25 years across real estate, finance, capital markets and governance.
The board changes accompany a financial plan that sends more cash toward debt. In its third-quarter release, Allied said it would cut monthly distributions by 90% beginning in November 2026, setting the payment at $0.006 per unit, or $0.072 on an annualized basis. The trust said retaining the cash would provide about $126 million annually for debt reduction.
The cut reduces the income unitholders receive while giving Allied more funds for repayment. The company set a 2026 target of $650 million to $700 million in gross proceeds from property sales and said it would direct the proceeds to debt repayment.
Allied expects property-sale proceeds to cover at least $350 million of the $700 million in bonds due in April 2027. It plans to refinance the remaining $350 million. The next stated governance milestone is the annual meeting in May 2027.
