Capital & Regional Regulatory News (CAL)

11 Aug 2005 07:00

Capital & Regional plc11 August 2005 11 August 2005 CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC AND HERMES: NEW INVESTORS AND PROPERTY FOR X-LEISURE The X-Leisure Unit Trust, the Capital & Regional and Hermes managed specialistleisure fund, is delighted to announce that it is welcoming four newunit-holders and has purchased Queen's Links Leisure Park in Aberdeen. The four new unit-holders are John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust Limited,Lloyds TSB Group Pension Scheme, Merrill Lynch Property Fund and Merrill LynchUK Property Fund of Funds, investing a total of £37 million through primaryissuance and secondary trades. This week also saw the X-Leisure Unit Trust complete the purchase of Queen'sLinks Leisure Park, Aberdeen from the Legendary Property Company for £22.15m, atan effective initial yield of 6.48%. The leisure park is 128,000 sq ft (11,891sq m) and the tenants include UGC, Pizza Hut, Frankie & Benny's, Chiquitos,Whitbread and Gala Bingo. This purchase follows the acquisitions of Cambridge Leisure Park in March thisyear and the high-profile purchase of Brighton Marina in September 2004. PY Gerbeau, X-Leisure Chief Executive, comments: "Queens Link Leisure Park is another excellent purchase for X-Leisure. TheX-Leisure approach is all about creating industry leading leisure destinationsthat combine exciting sports and leisure activities with the best in retail,catering and entertainment to provide a truly regional attraction. Our highly skilled leisure management team underpins this approach. The teamhas a strong understanding of our tenants needs and our unique asset managementand development initiatives have proven to increase footfall and dwell time atour venues across the country. We are confident that our active management approach will benefit Queens LinkLeisure Park, as it does the rest of our portfolio, and enable us to continue todeliver outperformance for our investors." Alasdair Evans, Hermes' Fund Director of X-Leisure, commented: "We are delighted to welcome these blue chip investors, confirming the X-LeisureUnit Trust as the leading leisure property fund. This continued expansion ofthe investor base enables us to grow the portfolio while maintaining strongreturns for all investors." Charles Whittle of McCafferty Management, advisors to the vendor commented: "We are delighted to have concluded the sale of Queens Link on behalf ofLegendary Property Service, and wish X-Leisure every success in the future withthis new acquisition" X-Leisure, the leisure property division of Capital & Regional, is responsiblefor the management of the X-Leisure Fund and the Xscapes. It is the UK'sfastest growing premier leisure brand, with 19 major leisure destinations aroundthe UK including the award-winning Xscape attractions at Milton Keynes andCastleford Leeds, with the new Xscape Braehead Glasgow opening in Spring 2006 inaddition to the 16 leisure parks in the X-Leisure Unit Trust. Other prestigiousdestinations within the portfolio include Brighton Marina, 02 Centre London,Star City Birmingham and the recently acquired 133,000 sq ft Cambridge LeisurePark. With a passion for providing the very best and most innovative family leisureand entertainment attractions, X-Leisure is behind the UK's largest indoor realsnowslopes (Xscape Milton Keynes & Castleford), casino (StarCity) and largestmultiplex cinema (StarCity). More than 45 million people visited X-Leisureattractions last year enjoying a wide range of facilities from bowling, cinemaand casinos to waterparks and extreme sports. Notes for editors: 1. The X-Leisure Unit Trust is a Jersey based unit trust created in June 2004. 2. At 30 June 2005, the X-Leisure Unit Trust contained gross assets of £633.5 million, and net assets of £257.8 million. 3. During the year to 30 June 2005, investors in the X-Leisure Unit Trust have seen returns of 22%. - ENDS - For further information: X-LeisurePY Gerbeau, Chief Executive of X-Leisure Tel. 020 7932 8064 Redwood Consulting:Paul Haines Tel: 020 7224 4300 gcg hudson sandlerMichael Sandler / James Benjamin Tel: 020 7796 4133 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange