08:59 AM EDT, 09/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX-UN.TO) said Monday it will be acquired by RFA Capital Holdings, a privately-held Canadian financial services organization, through through a court-approved plan of arrangement with involves a share exchange transaction.

A statement noted the combined company, RFA Financial, will become a new public entity with its shares to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with Artis Unitholders to own 68% of RFA Financial common shares outstanding upon closing.

Among highlights of the deal, Artis unitholders will receive one share of RFA Financial for each Artis unit held. Holders of 39.2% of the REIT's units have agreed to support the sale. RFA said it expects to offer an initial quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share and expects the payout to rise along with its earnings.

Upon closing, Ben Rodney, current Chair of Artis and President, CEO and Managing Partner of RFA, will be appointed President and CEO of RFA Financial, and Samir Manji will be appointed Executive Chair of the Board of RFA Financial. Furthermore, Jaclyn Koenig, Chief Financial Officer of Artis will be appointed as CFO of RFA Financial, and Melody Lo, Managing Partner of RFA, will be appointed as Chief Operating Officer of RFA Financial. The management team will be complemented by a board of directors consisting of Ben Rodney (in his capacity as CEO of RFA Financial), five directors identified by Artis (including Samir Manji ) and three directors identified by RFA.

RFA's main line of business is a licensed bank, RFA Bank of Canada, with more than $2.5 billion of assets, and a mortgage financing unit that originated more than $2.9 billion of residential mortgages in the 12 months ending June 30, 2025.

Artis units closed down $0.02 to $7.56 Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.