Alpha Group International Regulatory News (ALPH)

23 Oct 2006 08:00

Alpha Pyrenees Trust Limited23 October 2006 alpha Pyrenees Trust 23rd October 2006 ALPHA PYRENEES TRUST LIMITED ("ALPHA PYRENEES" OR THE "COMPANY") ALPHA PYRENEES TRUST AGREES €44 MILLION ACQUISITION OF FRENCH OFFICE PORTFOLIO Alpha Pyrenees has agreed to acquire a portfolio comprising three modern, fullylet office properties in good business locations in the Ile-de-France region forapproximately €44 million. The three properties located in Gennevilliers, Champs sur Marne and St CyrL'Ecole total an area of 15,600 sq m with good car parking facilities and areclose to communication links. The offices are well let to a number of qualitytenants including Credit Lyonnais, Syngenta, University Cite Descartes and EcoleNationale des Ponts et Chaussees. The buildings are all of modern constructionhaving been built in the last five years. The portfolio enjoys a 100% occupancyrate. The investments will provide a stabilised yield of around 7%. The purchase of these three assets takes Alpha Pyrenees committed and completedacquisitions to over €130million on an average yield in excess of 7%. Alpha Pyrenees paid an initial dividend of 2.5p in respect of the period to 30June 2006 on 13 October 2006. It is the current intention of the Alpha PyreneesBoard to recommend a further dividend of not less than 2.5p in respect of thesix months to 31 December 2006. The Investment Manager to Alpha Pyrenees is Alpha Real Capital LLP. For further information please contact: Phillip Rose, CEO, Alpha Real Capital 020 7591 1609 / 07771 880 318 Notes ABOUT ALPHA REAL CAPITAL Alpha Real Capital is a value-adding international property funds managementgroup with operations in both the French and Spanish real estate markets. AlphaReal Capital was established by Phillip Rose and Sir John Beckwith. Phillip Rose has 25 years' experience in the real estate, funds management andbanking industries in Europe, the USA and Australasia. He has been Head of RealEstate for ABN AMRO Bank, Chief Operating Officer of European shopping centreinvestor and developer TrizecHahn Europe (where he was responsible for a €1billion European investment and development programme from 1999-2000), ManagingDirector of Lend Lease Global Investment where, during his tenure from 1994 to1999, he was responsible for managing European property investments andExecutive Manager of listed fund General Property Trust. He is currently a non-executive director of Great Portland Estates and a member of the ManagementCommittee of the Hermes Property Unit Trust. Sir John Beckwith has been involved in property investment and other investmentfor his entire working life. He founded London & Edinburgh Trust PLC ("LET") in1971 where he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and developed it into oneof the top ten listed real estate companies in the UK. Following the sale ofLET, he established Pacific Investments through which he founded a number ofsuccessful asset management businesses, including Liontrust Asset Management andThames River Capital. Alpha Real Capital is the Investment Manager to Alpha Pyrenees. Alpha RealCapital's European Funds Director, Paul Cable, is Fund Manager, Alpha PyreneesTrust. Paul Cable has 25 years experience in the real estate and bankingindustries in the UK, Europe and the Far East and was previously responsible forSir John Beckwith's property investment activities in France and Spain for sixyears. Further information is available at www.alpharealcapital.com including contactdetails for Alpha Real Capital's UK, French and Spanish offices. Alpha Real Capital is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial ServicesAuthority. ABOUT ALPHA PYRENEES Alpha Pyrenees is a Guernsey registered closed-ended investment companyinvesting in French and Spanish commercial real estate. Investment Strategy Alpha Pyrenees' strategy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of propertiesin Spain and France, focusing on commercial property in the industrial,logistics, office and retail sectors. Alpha Real Capital believes that therewill be capital growth opportunities in the portfolio through income growth,active asset management and yield compression. Directors The Directors of the Company, all of whom are non-executive, are responsible forthe implementation of the investment policy of the Company and the overallsupervision of the Group's activities. The Board consists of Richard Kingston(Chairman), Christopher Bennett, David Jeffreys, Phillip Rose, Serena Tremlett. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange