Adams Regulatory News (ADA)

3 Oct 2006 14:00

Dawnay, Day Carpathian PLC03 October 2006 DAWNAY, DAY CARPATHIAN PLC 17 million acquisition of Ericsson Property, Budapest, Hungary Dawnay, Day Carpathian PLC ("Dawnay, Day Carpathian" or the "Company") ispleased to announce that it has acquired a property in Budapest, forapproximately €17m, financed by €5m of equity and €12m of debt. This acquisitionis the ninth investment announced by the Company since IPO and represents a netinitial yield of 9.75%. The premises are let to Ericsson Hungary until March2011 and comprise 8 buildings totalling 8,000 sq.m on a site of 31,250 sq.m. The property is located in the 3rd district of Budapest adjacent to one of themain arterial roads running from the city centre to the M0 ring road, which iscurrently under construction. The site's prominent position on a major road,combined with its proximity to an established retail location, provides theCompany with an excellent redevelopment opportunity in addition to theattractive initial yield. The site has zoning for a total development area of up to 62,600 sq.m, ascompared with the current built area of 8,000 sq.m of office buildings.Permitted uses are retail (up to a maximum of 14,000 sq.m), office andeducation. There is also the possibility of having the site re-zoned to allowresidential development. It is the Company's intention to work up redevelopmentproposals for a retail led mixed use development, whilst benefiting from thestrong existing income stream, over the next 18 months. As a condition of theacquisition, Dawnay, Day Carpathian required the vendor to obtain a permit forthe demolition of the existing buildings. Commenting on the acquisition, Rupert Cottrell commented: "This is aninteresting acquisition as it offers a strong existing income stream from a bluechip tenant, together with the potential to create a substantially enlargedretail led mixed use property. As we have stated before, we would pursue thisopportunity in ways that minimise our exposure to the associated developmentrisks." Enquiries: Dawnay, Day Carpathian PLC Peter Klimt 020 7834 8060 Paul Rogers Cardew Group Tim Robertson 020 7930 0777 Catherine Maitland Notes to Editors: DDC listed on the AIM market in July 2005 and raised new funds to create ageared €1 billion portfolio of retail properties. To date, the Company haspurchased four shopping centres with a property valuation of €64.5 million inPoland, the Antana Warehouse Park in Hungary valued at €21.0 million, theVaryada Shopping Centre in the Czech Republic valued at €37.0 million, thePromenada Shopping and Business Centre in Poland for an initial €127.0 million,the Plaza Portfolio of four shopping centres in Hungary for an initial €61.0million, Macro Mall shopping centre in Brasov, Romania for approximately €19.0mand Babilonas shopping centre in Panevezys, Lithuania for €32.5m. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange