KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Chatham Financial announced today that it has advised Education Realty Trust, Inc. in the defeasance of $185 million in loans which were secured by ten properties. The defeasance of these loans played an important role in Education Realty's refinancing of debt that was due to mature in 2009. Chatham Financial managed the defeasance process from start to finish, and in only ten business days successfully met Education Realty's goal of closing the transactions before year end.

Education Realty also leveraged Chatham's expertise in the field of interest rate hedging to place a lender-required interest rate cap on the floating rate portion of the new financing.

"This is a great example of how Chatham's multiple services complement one another to add efficiency and convenience to commercial real estate transactions," said Regan Campbell, Chatham Financial.

Olan Brevard, Vice President of Education Realty Trust, Inc., stated, "Chatham Financial has once again provided us with valuable assistance in structuring our capital position. We successfully completed a new facility for our high-quality student housing assets at attractive interest rates and favorable maturities."

    For further information:
    Chatham Financial
    610.925.3120
    defeasance@chathamfinancial.com

About Education Realty Trust

Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops and manages high-quality student housing communities throughout the United States. The Company has ownership and management interests in 65 properties with 38,143 beds in a total of 21 states. For more information please visit the Company's web site at www.educationrealty.com.

About Chatham Financial

Chatham Financial is the largest independent interest rate and foreign exchange advisory company, serving clients in the areas of interest rate and currency hedging, hedge accounting, defeasance, capital advisory, FAS 157 valuations, and loan management systems. Annually our ~200 team members located in Kennett Square, PA; Denver, CO; Singapore; London; and Krakow advise on over $440bn in transactions for over 1,000 leading companies worldwide. For more information please visit the Company's web site at www.chathamfinancial.com.

SOURCE Chatham Financial