FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMEX:
WOC
Wilshire
Enterprises, Inc. Provides Update on Its Strategic Plan
Portfolio
has been repositioned to facilitate exploration of strategic alternatives and
maximize value
NEWARK, N.J., June 4, 2007 – Wilshire
Enterprises, Inc. ("Wilshire" or the "Company") (Amex: WOC)
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sherry Wilzig Izak today provided an
update on the Company's progress in the implementation of its plan to maximize
value for shareholders.
"As previously reported, for the past several years
our strategy has been to increase shareholder value by redeveloping or
repositioning certain properties and selling non-core assets. Last year, the success of this strategy
allowed the Board of Directors to declare an extraordinary cash distribution of
$3.00 per share, which was paid to shareholders on June 29, 2006," Izak
said.
"With the
completion of many of our value-enhancing initiatives, which we firmly believe
have made our portfolio and our overall Company more appealing to a potential
buyer, we are now actively exploring strategic alternatives for the
business," Izak said. The Company’s
investment banker, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc., has begun circulating
to interested parties an offering memorandum
concerning the potential sale or merger of Wilshire Enterprises.
Between May 2006 and April 2007, Wilshire sold a hotel, an
apartment complex, undeveloped land, and condominium units for total net
proceeds of more than $7 million. The
Company also has taken a variety of steps it believes have enhanced the value
of a number of its other properties. These steps include the completion of a significant phase of the upgrade
of its Amboy Tower property in New Jersey and the interior renovation of The
Royal Mall Plaza office and retail complex in Arizona; contracting to buy
property in Sussex, New Jersey which will provide improved access to the vacant
17.32 acres zoned for multi-family units adjacent to the Company's Alpine Apartments
complex, making the property more conducive to condominium development; and
completion of preliminary construction plans for the conversion of its
apartment complex in Tucson, Arizona to senior housing units at potentially
higher rents.
About
Wilshire Enterprises
Wilshire is engaged primarily in the ownership
and management of real estate investments in
Arizona
,
Florida
,
Texas
and
New Jersey
. Wilshire’s portfolio of properties includes 5
rental apartment properties with 950 units, 15 condominium units, 4 buildings
with 231,000 square feet of office and retail space and slightly over 18 acres
of land.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT:
The non-historical statements in this press release are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are
subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include
the impact of market, economic and competitive conditions on the Company and
others, and the difficulty of predicting
the outcome of the process that the Company is pursuing with its investment
banker, as well as other risks and
uncertainties disclosed in the Company's 2006 Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives
will result in any transactions.
Company Contact: Sherry
Wilzig Izak, Chairman, 201-420-2796
Agency Contact: Neil
Berkman, Berkman Associates, 310-826-5051
FBR Contacts: Noam
Saxonhouse, Vice President, 703-469-1160
Jim
O’Brien, Senior Vice President, 703-312-9625
