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TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2014 /CNW/ – Manulife Real Estate announced today the
closing of 180 Wellington in Toronto and a national 24-building
industrial portfolio purchased for its Manulife Canadian Property
Portfolio fund. The acquisitions come on the tail of a series of
strategic acquisitions across Canada that have added over 2.6 million
square feet, representing $438 million of real estate in 2014 – lifting
the Fund’s assets under management to over $885 million.

“These properties represent the type of high quality assets we acquire
in target markets as a priority for our Fund’s strategic plan,” said
Kevin Adolphe, President and CEO of Manulife Asset Management Private
Markets. “Our Fund has experienced tremendous growth this year due to
the significant capital we have raised and deployed to acquire assets
that serve our external institutional investors.”

The strong tenant rosters and diversified locations make these excellent
additions to the portfolio supporting our mandate to continuously
diversify the portfolio by industry, geography and asset type.

National Industrial Portfolio closed on November 27, 2014
This national portfolio of multi-and single-tenant industrial properties
totals over 1.5 million square feet across Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal,
and the Greater Toronto Area. The acquisition further diversifies the
fund’s properties, tenant base and geographical location.

180 Wellington, Toronto, ON, closed on November 5, 2014
180 Wellington is a 12-storey, 209,869 SF building in Toronto’s downtown
core. It is 100% leased to a single tenant on a long term lease making
it a great addition to the fund’s portfolio.

About Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio
The Fund is an open-end, income producing real estate investment fund,
and invests in quality Canadian commercial real estate assets. Manulife
Real Estate, the global real estate arm of Manulife, serves as the
asset manager for the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio. The
Portfolio now holds 43 income-producing office, industrial and retail
properties totaling approximately 5.4 million square feet. The
Portfolio extends the benefit of Manulife’s extensive real estate
investment and management experience to investors.

Notice to Investors
This communication is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed
as an invitation to make an investment in the Fund nor does it
constitute a public offering to sell units of the Fund. Subscriptions
for units of the Fund will only be considered on the terms of the
Offering Memorandum (the “OM”) of the Fund. Units of the Fund are only
available for purchase by “accredited investors”, as such term is
defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Purchasers
may have statutory or contractual rights of action under certain
circumstances as disclosed in the OM. An investment in units of the
Fund is subject to certain risks and is appropriate only for investors
who have the capacity to absorb a loss of some or all of their
investment. There is no market through which units of the Fund may be
sold and none is expected to develop. Under certain circumstances, the
Fund is entitled to suspend or restrict rights of redemption. An
investment in units of the Fund is not intended as a complete
investment program. An investment in units of the Fund should only be
made after consultation with independent investment and tax advisors.
Only investors who do not require immediate liquidity of their
investment should consider the purchase of units of the Fund. Only
investors who can reasonably afford a substantial impairment or loss of
their entire investment should consider the purchase of Units of the
Fund. Please refer to the OM for a further discussion of the risks of
investing.

About Manulife Real Estate
Manulife Real Estate is the global real estate arm of Manulife with
fully integrated in-house capabilities and 70 years of experience as an
active investor, owner, developer and asset manager of commercial real
estate. Diversified by both geography and asset type, the portfolio
consists primarily of prime office and industrial properties, as well
as select retail and multi-family residential properties, in key
metropolitan centers throughout Canada, Asia and in the United States,
through Manulife’s U.S. division, John Hancock. In addition to equity
real estate, Manulife Real Estate manages the space requirements and
own use facilities for Manulife’s operations around the world. In 2011,
Manulife Real Estate launched a new real estate fund platform,
extending the benefit of its long established real estate asset
management expertise to institutional investors. As at September 30,
2014, the Manulife Real Estate portfolio totaled more than 40 million
square feet with a market value of CA$11.7 billion (US$10.4 billion).
Additional information about Manulife Real Estate can be found at manuliferealestate.com.

About Manulife Asset Management Private Markets
Manulife Asset Management Private Markets has investment expertise in
several private asset classes, including commercial real estate,
timberland and farmland, renewable energy, oil and gas, private equity
and mezzanine debt. Manulife Asset Management Private Markets also
partners with Manulife’s specialized private asset investment teams to
invest in private placement debt and commercial mortgages. Hancock
Natural Resource Group, Manulife Real Estate, John Hancock Real Estate,
NAL Resources, Regional Power, Manulife Capital, and Hancock Capital
Management are units of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets. As
at September 30, 2014, Manulife’s assets under management in private
asset classes were C$79 billion (US$70 billion), including assets
managed by and for Manulife’s general fund and external clients.
Additional information may be found at ManulifeAM.com/PrivateMarkets.

About Manulife
Manulife is a leading Canada-based financial services group with
principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Clients
look to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking
solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our
international network of employees, agents and distribution partners
offers financial protection and wealth management products and services
to millions of clients. We also provide asset management services to
institutional customers. Funds under management by Manulife and its
subsidiaries were approximately C$663 billion (US$591 billion) as at
September 30, 2014. We operate as John Hancock in the U.S. and as
Manulife in other parts of the world.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE,
and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

Image with caption: “180 Wellington, Toronto, ON, closed on November 5, 2014 (CNW Group/Manulife Financial Corporation)”. Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141217_C9198_PHOTO_EN_43311.jpg