Macquarie CountryWide Trust (MCW) has sold 30 US shopping centres to Inland Real Estate Acquisitions for $646 million.
The sale price is 12 per cent lower than what the trust originally paid for the supermarkets.
Earlier this month, the trust said it would dissolve two joint ventures with Regency Centers Corporation: JV1 and MCW/MDP.
The sale includes all but five of the supermarkets that are part of these joint ventures.
MCW still has three other joint ventures with Regency.
The sale will reduce the trust's gearing by 1.8 per cent, but will also reduce annual profits by 1.7 cents per unit.
"The transaction is expected to release considerable cash proceeds with a manageable reduction in earnings for the trust," MCW chief executive officer Steven Sewell said.
The trust also plans to sell a number of Australian shopping centres with a combined value of $100 million.
It is still in negotiations about the terms for this sale.
The sales will enable the trust to restructure or refinance all debt maturities for the 2009 calendar year.
"The trust is committed to undertaking further capital management initiatives, including selective individual asset sales and entity-level transactions in all markets to further reduce the trust's borrowings," Sewell said.
