CommonWealth May Sell SIR Stock; Files with SEC

NEWTON, MA-At the request of CommonWealth REIT, former subsidiary Select Income REIT has filed a registration statement with the SEC allowing CommonWealth to sell some or all of the 22 million common shares of SIR stock it owns. No decision has been reached on whether to sell the SIR stock, CommonWealth says in a release.

In the release, locally based Commonwealth says its board and management “continue to be focused on executing CWH's business plan.” That plan includes simplifying its investment portfolio, selling non-core assets and repositioning its investment portfolio toward CBD office buildings. Should CommonWealth decide to sell the SIR stock, the net proceeds initially would be used to repay debt and eventually would be recycled into new investments in CBD office buildings.

SIR previously was a 100% owned subsidiary of CommonWealth. In March 2012, SIR completed its initial public offering and became a separately listed public company. Today, SIR has a total of approximately 39.3 million common shares outstanding, of which about 56% is owned by CWH.

The book running manager listed for the possible offering of SIR common shares owned by CommonWealth is BofA Merrill Lynch, the release states. The registration statement has yet to become effective, according to the release, nor is public distribution of the preliminary prospectus being made at present.