Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a CovAfrica article this week titled Egypt and Blumberg Grain Launch World's Largest Integrated Food Storage System, heralding the forthcoming construction of the world's largest integrated food storage system for grain. Launching this April, the 93 sophisticated wheat storage facilities across Egypt that will process 3.7 million tons annually and store 750,000 tons of wheat, saving Egypt approximately $200 million annually, in addition to creating jobs within Egypt's agricultural center. An excerpt from the article follows:

Egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat, as well as Africa's largest wheat producer. The country is intensely vulnerable to fluctuating international food prices, yet it commonly endures post-harvest grain losses of over 40% due to spoilage occurring in traditional, open-air "shouna" storage facilities. Blumberg specializes in the development of cost-effective, efficient storage systems that aim to reduce post-harvest losses to 5% or less. The new storage network will increase profitability and food security by storing, cleaning, and bagging grain products in climate-controlled, secure facilities throughout Egypt.

Following the political unrest that consumed Egypt in 2011, addressing Egypt's food security concerns through infrastructure development proved especially challenging. However, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah Sisi and the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, infrastructure investment has become an increasing priority, and the government is open to investment partnerships. Under Blumberg's $28 million contract with the Egyptian government, the Egyptian army will build at least 93 wheat storage facilities using Blumberg technology; the contract provides for project expenditures of up to $56 million, and the modernization of up to 164 shounas in total.

In addition to revamping Egypt's wheat storage system, Blumberg Grain also plans to build logistics centers for perishable produce across Egypt that will leverage cutting-edge technology to maximize the longevity of perishable produce. Lastly, the company plans to build a $250 million manufacturing plant and export hub that will produce food security technology and equipment for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While competition for this contract has yet to conclude, the company has stated that Egypt is well-positioned to gain the manufacturing plant and related processing and packing facilities. The plant will create approximately 1,000 new jobs; KPMG estimates that the initiative will have a $1 billion economic impact during its first year, and a $7 billion impact over a five year period.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

New York's Hudson Yards Skyscraper Breaks Ground

Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. (MFA), the U.S. operations of Japan's largest real estate company, along with Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group broke ground this week on the trophy office tower at Fifty Five Hudson Yards on Hudson Park & Boulevard. The skyscraper is the latest addition to the 28-acre Hudson Yards development, and represents a new trophy property in the expanding portfolio of global real estate leader Mitsui Fudosan Group.

"We are pleased to partner with Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group on Fifty Five Hudson Yards which we consider a new trophy property in the Mitsui Fudosan U.S. and global portfolios," said Yukio Yoshida, President and CEO of MFA. "Related and Oxford are experienced developers with a proven track record for delivering world class projects, making them ideal partners. Hudson Yards is fast becoming one of the most desirable locations for top echelon tenants, offering an unparalleled modern, mixed-use environment. We are looking forward to being a central part of the success of the Hudson Yards development."

"We are thrilled to partner with Mitsui Fudosan America and commence construction on Fifty Five Hudson Yards. Mitsui Fudosan is one of the worlds' most established real estate developers and investors and their partnership on this project further solidifies the appeal of Hudson Yards with both global capital and global companies," added Stephen Ross, Chairman and Founder of Related Companies. "Hudson Yards is already the future home of Coach, Inc., L'Oréal USA, SAP and Time Warner Inc. and we have seen incredibly strong interest in Fifty Five Hudson Yards. Featuring the best in culture, dining, shopping and more, the commercial office space, steps from transportation and lush, expansive green space, Hudson Yards sets a new standard for working in New York City."

Blake Hutcheson, CEO of Oxford Properties Group, said, "The forward momentum at Hudson Yards is evident to everyone who walks by the development. Oxford is pleased to join Related in partnering with Mitsui Fudosan and commencing construction on Fifty Five Hudson Yards. Each organization has deep experience and incredible portfolios of past developments and investments individually, and this new partnership will benefit from bringing the three together for the first time."

Designed by A. Eugene Kohn and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the fully capitalized, anticipated LEED Gold, 51-story, 1.3 million gross square foot building is expected to be ready for tenant fit-out in 2017. "Simple in form, but rich in detail, the building was inspired by the historic cast iron architecture found throughout SoHo, and aims to relate to the neighborhoods of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District adjacent to Hudson Yards," said A. Eugene Kohn, Chairman of KPF and Design Architect of Fifty Five Hudson Yards. "Fifty Five Hudson Yards was designed to create an extremely workable and efficient office building which is suitable for a variety of tenants both large and small."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg Grain Visits India With An Eye Towards Adding Value to the Country's Ongoing Food Security Initiatives

Blumberg Grain senior executives are arriving in India this week for meetings on food security needs in the public and private sectors.
The Future of Food Security Is Here

The company will also be participating in official business and industry events on January 26th held in honor of visiting U.S. President Barack Obama, and hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council, an arm of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Chairman and CEO, Philip Blumberg, accompanied by senior executives of the US based agribusiness company, will also be evaluating opportunities in India for partnering with Indian companies as well as investing in food processing, manufacturing, and opportunities to establish food security operations in India to reduce post harvest losses, currently estimated at over 50%, to under 5% utilizing Blumberg Grain's state of the art technology and storage systems.

Blumberg Grain's food security technologies and solutions are increasingly taking hold among emerging agricultural economies. The Company was recently selected to develop Egypt's new grain storage infrastructure, which comprises 93 sites across Egypt, and enables primary processing of 3.7 million metric tons of wheat per year across a platform of 3.6 million square feet of storage space. That project will be one of the world's largest integrated food security systems for grain storage. Blumberg is also providing cold chain storage for produce and perishable storage for the Nigerian government, which is anticipated to ultimately comprise the largest cold chain infrastructure on the continent.

Philip Blumberg Chairman and CEO, commented, "Though we have considered investments in India previously, the determination of the Modi Administration to address food security and improve agriculture, combined with President Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, is very aligned with our objectives. We will be evaluating opportunities to manufacture our food security systems and storage in India for domestic use and for export. We are looking forward to meetings with government officials as well as major Indian companies regarding joint-venture/partnership to enter the India market. At the end of the day, we believe that India provides numerous win-win opportunities for our company, Indian agriculture and the Indian people as a whole."

About Blumberg Grain
Blumberg Grain is a leading global food security company, providing harvest protection systems and technology. Blumberg Grain's fully integrated crop and food security systems can reduce post-harvest losses of grain, produce, and other perishables to 5% or less. Blumberg Grain works with private companies and countries to modernize agricultural value chains, increase the quality and marketable output of their harvests, enable efficient market timing, and significantly boost exports of agriculture products. For more information, please visit www.blumberggrain.com.

Blackstone Sells Three Bryant Park for $2.2B

Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, and its partner, Callahan Capital Properties, announced this week that it had purchased Three Bryant Park at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in New York City for $2.2 billion. The Blackstone Group sold the asset for the second highest price ever paid for a single U.S. office building, just behind the June 2008 sale of the GM Building at 767 Fifth Ave. in New York City for $2.8 billion, according to a CoStar report. The U.S. office portfolio Ivanhoé Cambridge is building with Callahan now totals almost 5 million square feet in New York City and more than 10 million square feet nationally, Callahan chief executive officer Tim Callahan said.

"The opportunity to acquire a truly iconic property like Three Bryant Park is extremely rare," said Arthur Lloyd, Executive Vice President, Global Investments Ivanhoé Cambridge in a press release. "As we redeploy capital that has been rotated out of non-core assets globally, Three Bryant Park represents a cornerstone of our expanding U.S. office platform. The property is 97% leased for the long term to a roster of high-credit quality tenants. It fits perfectly into our investment strategy of building a diversified portfolio of top-quality office properties in gateway U.S. office markets."

"When we considered the quality and unique characteristics of this property, along with the continued enhancements in the immediate area around Three Bryant Park, it was clear this is a compelling long-term investment opportunity," added Tim Callahan, Chief Executive Officer of Callahan Capital Properties. "We continue to be very pleased with the progress we have made in expanding our U.S. office platform with Ivanhoé Cambridge, which now totals almost 5 million square feet in New York City and over 10 million square feet nationally."

Three Bryant Park is located at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan between 41st and 42nd Street. The 41 story 1.2 million-square-foot office building, completed in 1972, occupies a 1.4-acre site and has direct access to New York City's major transit hubs. The property was 97% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including MetLife, Verizon and Dechert LLP.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cordish's $450M Baltimore Arena Proposal

The Cordish Companies, a Baltimore-based global conglomerate of businesses with real estate management and development expertise, has unveiled its plans to build a new $450 million waterfront arena and outdoor performance venue along the Inner Harbor. The proposed 15,000-seat arena would replace the Royal Farms Arena, located about 1 ½ miles away. The proposed location, according to a Baltimore Business Journal article, is tucked between Power Plant and Harbor East, and is currently home to the Pier Six concert pavilion, Pier 5 Hotel, a surface parking lot, McCormick & Schmick's and a Ruth's Chris Steak House. Cordish made a presentation about the plan to the Greater Baltimore Committee recently, which revived perennial debate about how to replace the aging arena on the city's west side.

City Councilman James Kraft, who represents Southeast Baltimore, said his "gut reaction" is to oppose the plan, comparing it to the Hilton hotel, a project he also opposed. That subsidized hotel near the Baltimore Convention Center has struggled financially. "I'd love us to have a new arena, but I'd like to see somebody build it themselves," said Kraft, also citing concerns about traffic and parking. "If they're going to operate it and make a profit, they can pay for it. I don't want the city to put any money into it. We can't meet the needs we have right now."

"We love our hometown and see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an iconic waterfront arena that would be a game changing project for the city," Cordish said in a statement. "Obviously, the building of a bridge or arena would require a public/private partnership, but we are optimistic that the public subsidy for this particular location can be limited to incremental revenue that is created by the project. As to subsidy, this particular site is so prominent that the naming rights opportunity will be maximized."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Washington Prime Acquires Glimcher in $4.3B Deal

Washington Prime Group Inc., a spinoff of Simon Property Group, announced this week that it had completed the acquisition of Ohio-based REIT Glimcher Realty Trust. The $4.3 billion acquisition was approved by shareholders of Glimcher Realty Trust in a special meeting on Sunday. According to a report from The Columbus Dispatch, the combined real-estate investment trust will be called WP Glimcher and will own and manage about 120 U.S. malls that contain about 68 million square feet of leasable space. Under the terms of the agreement, Glimcher shareholders will receive, for each Glimcher share, $10.40 in cash and 0.1989 of a share in WP Glimcher common stock.

"We are very pleased to have completed our acquisition of Glimcher so quickly, which will allow us to begin taking advantage of the strengths of the combined company, including a broad and diverse group of strong cash flowing assets and a strong platform in Columbus as a foundation for growth," said Mark Ordan, Executive Chairman of WP Glimcher. "We are focused on reducing leverage, including through joint ventures and possible asset sales, maintaining our investment grade rating, strengthening our asset base through development and redevelopment opportunities, and strategically acquiring new properties in both enclosed and open air large format shopping centers that have a long term place in their markets."

Citi is serving as financial advisor, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor, to Washington Prime. Willkie Farr & Gallagher is serving as legal advisor to Washington Prime in connection with the sale of the two Glimcher properties to Simon. GreenOak Real Estate US and Morgan Stanley & Co. are serving as financial advisors, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is serving as legal advisor to Glimcher. WP Glimcher expects to issue fiscal year end 2014 earnings in late February, which will provide updated financial information and guidance for the newly combined company.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

David Blumberg was interview by Africa Agribusiness, detailing the customer history, advancements and current position in the agricultural health and progress in Africa. As another Blumberg Grain Warehouse system is built, Mr. Blumberg spoke with Dave Ramaswamy; an excerpt of the interview follows:

AAM: Do your systems run on a variety of power inputs? Grid power is not always available or reliable, with voltage fluctuations, in these markets.

Blumberg: Good point. When designing our systems, we told our R&D team that they should plan for poor infrastructure as well as harsh climates. The Applied Engineering division designed our units so that a 600-square-meter facility (with 1500 metric tons of storage) can pack up into just one 40-foot cargo container. Our engineers designed our units for fast installation – as little as three days. They designed them for flexible use. Our units are modular when it comes to adding capacity and are upgradable when it comes to adding our technology options.

Speaking to your point about energy – it was clear that the units would have to be able to handle different kinds of energy supply. So we offer solar power, wind power, etc. as a supplementary power source for these systems. Our Grain Vault can run completely on solar power.

AAM: Is it solar PV? How exactly does it work? How do you handle power failure and redundancy?

Blumberg: That's correct, Solar PV on top of the warehouse roof. You can get quite a bit of power out of those panels. What we've done is leverage technologies on the inside of our warehouse that are energy-efficient. The only issue is the cold storage component for which the power needs are quite high. Our cold storage could run on 100 percent solar power, but it then becomes inefficient from an economic perspective.

For our refrigerated storage, what we suggest to our clients is to locate these close to the existing grid. If that isn't possible, we need to have generators in place to run the system. Even if we're on the grid, we have the option to hook into different independent power solutions.

Our video on the technology describes this flexibility and some other features of our systems: http://www.blumberggrain.com/video/

AAM: What is the secret of your success in these demanding markets?

Blumberg: That is because of two things: first, the success that we have realized in the market vis-à-vis the application of our product; and second, for some reason, there haven't been companies that emerged to play a role in this storage space in these emerging markets.

When you look at these developing countries, our competition is, for the most part, local concrete contractors. These contractors put up a concrete warehouse that has only a tangential application to food security. The warehouse offers no specialized ancillary options or specialized components. They don't provide the safety and security needed to keep the crop preserved in-condition. So you continue to see high post-harvest loss rates.

We designed our warehouses with coatings and primers that reflect about 65 percent of the sun's heat. We have seals that create foam closures between each panel. This means you don't have leakage and you don't have water coming into the facility. We've designed our warehouse to be basic nuts-and-bolts assembly, so any skilled labor can put it up fast. So there are no problematic issues with construction, and we can be sure the facility works as intended.

In agriculture, the harvest season dictates the timeline for construction projects. If you miss the harvest season deadline, you lose that year's benefit. It is critical to be fast and timely. We hold the record in the industry for the ability to get 600 square meters of covered storage up, in three days.

To read the full interview, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.