According to reports, the publicly traded real estate operatingcompany will pay $17.2755 per share. Shares in Catellus closedWednesday at $17.45. In Thursday afternoon trading, shares stood at$17.71 on volume of 400,000 shares.

The transaction is expected to close Dec. 14. It will reduceCalPERS' ownership in Catellus to approximately 9.45% of thecompany's outstanding stock. CalPERS will be able to trade itsremaining shares freely. "This transaction allows us increasedflexibility in our portfolio, and we hope that reducing ourownership percentage in Catellus will allow us to pursue otheropportunities together," says Michael McCook, senior investmentofficer for CalPERS real estate program.

Including this transaction, Catellus has repurchased 21,649,797shares of stock to date in 2001, at an average price of $17.20 pershare. Catellus also confirmed in the announcement its 2001 and2002 earnings guidance for EBDDT per share at 10%-12 % growth over2001. The company said in October it expected EBDDT to grow about20 percent this year over 2000.