Great-West Life's real estate subsidiary GWL Realty Advisors announces the acquisition of EverWest Real Estate Partners

International real estate growth strategy pursued to achieve diversification objectives of clients

TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Great-West Life announced today that GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA), through its U.S. subsidiary, has acquired the business of EverWest Real Estate Partners (EverWest) – a strategic move to build on GWLRA's long-term strategy to establish a global investment platform to serve its investor clients. The CenterCap Group, LLC acted as financial advisor to GWL Realty Advisors U.S. in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, EverWest has been built on a 20-year foundation of real estate advisory experience through predecessor companies. EverWest currently manages a real estate portfolio of office, industrial, and multi-residential assets in key U.S. markets. Rick Stone, EverWest President and CEO along with his leadership team will continue to oversee the business.

"The acquisition of EverWest provides us with a real estate platform in the U.S. and opens up investment opportunities for our clients," said Paul Finkbeiner, President, GWL Realty Advisors, "This acquisition is an important step for us in achieving our long-term growth strategy that will enhance our customers' portfolio returns. EverWest has strong leadership and business teams that will continue to operate and grow the business."

Rick Stone, President, EverWest Real Estate Partners said, "we welcome the acquisition by GWL Realty Advisors as this transaction supports our vision of evolving our business to support the growing needs of domestic and international customers. Together, we are well positioned to meet the future needs of our mutual customers."

Led by its mission to deliver stable, long-term returns for its customers, GWL Realty Advisors has been a trusted real estate investment advisor for more than 30 years, providing asset management, property management, development and specialized real estate advisory services to pension funds and institutional clients. In 2017, GWLRA was ranked number one in Canada by the Global Real Estate Benchmark, the world's leading benchmark for evaluating and ranking the sustainability practices of real estate companies.

The Great-West Life Assurance Company
Founded in Winnipeg in 1891, Great-West Life is a leading Canadian insurer. Together with our subsidiaries London Life and Canada Life, we serve the financial security needs of more than 13 million people across Canada with financial and benefit plan solutions. To learn more, visit www.greatwestlife.com.

GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
GWL Realty Advisors is a leading real estate investment advisor providing comprehensive asset management, property management, development and specialized real estate advisory services to pension funds and institutional clients. GWL Realty Advisors is a subsidiary of The Great-West Life Assurance Company. To learn more about GWL Realty Advisors, visit www.gwlra.com.

EverWest Real Estate Partners
EverWest Real Estate Partners, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a privately held real estate investment management and operating company, whose goal is to create significant value for investors through a combination of capital appreciation, strategic acquisition, development, capitalization, repositioning, and management of commercial real estate assets. To learn more about EverWest Real Estate Partners, visit www.everwest.com.

The CenterCap Group
The CenterCap Group, LLC is a boutique investment bank providing strategic advisory, capital‐raising and consulting related services to private and public sector companies and investment managers across the real estate industry. For more information, visit www.centercapgroup.com.

SOURCE Great-West Life Assurance Company