Whitestone REIT to be acquired by Ares affiliates for $19.00 per share in cash

On April 8, 2026, in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Board adopted the Amendment No 3. to the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company (the “Bylaw Amendment”). The Bylaw Amendment adds an exclusive forum provision providing that, unless the Company consents in writing to an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, (or, if the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, does not have jurisdiction, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division), to the fullest extent permitted by law, shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain state corporate law or stockholder derivative actions, and that the federal district courts of the United States shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

with the Company, the “Company Parties”), AREG Wizard Parent LP (“Parent”), AREG Wizard Intermediate LP (“Merger Sub”), and AREG Wizard Operating Partnership LP (“Merger OP” and, collectively with Parent and Merger Sub, the “Parent Parties”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”). The Merger Agreement provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein and in accordance with the Maryland REIT Law and the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, Merger OP will merge with and into the Operating Partnership (the “Partnership Merger”), and, immediately following the Partnership Merger, the Company will merge with and into Merger Sub (the “Company Merger” and, together with the Partnership Merger, the “Mergers”).