Prime Reports Termination of Voting Pact

A voting agreement between two Prime Retail preferred directors and an affiliate of the Lightstone Group has been terminated, the Baltimore-based retail real estate investment trust has reported.The two directors had entered into the agreement with the Lightstone affiliate, which is looking to acquire Prime Retail for Lightstone, under which they had agreed to vote their Prime Retail shares in favor of the merger. The agreement has been terminated by David Lichtenstein, who owns 85% of the equity of the Lightstone affiliate, due to Prime's "inability to date to procure the necessary votes to effectuate the merger." Prime said it has confirmed with Howard Amster and Gary J. Skoien, the Prime directors involved in the voting arrangement, that they intend to vote in favor of the merger at a Nov. 18 meeting. Under an amendment filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Mr. Lichtenstein, he is eligible to purchase some Prime preferred stock and other obligations and real estate assets if the merger is not approved.