Capital & Regional Regulatory News (CAL)

24 Mar 2006 18:10

Capital & Regional plc24 March 2006 24 March 2006 CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC: ABP, SPARINVEST, COLLIERS CAPITAL AND OPC INVEST OVER £90M IN THE MALL FUND The Mall Fund, the shopping centre fund managed by Morley Fund Management andCapital & Regional, today (24 March 2006) announces that four new investors haveacquired units for £90m. ABP, Europe's largest pension fund, and Sparinvest arethe first Continental European investors to come in, whilst Colliers Capital andOPC have invested on behalf of two UK-based pension funds. The investment bySparinvest Property Fund is its first in the UK, and the first for their newglobal Fund of Funds mandate. The Mall Fund has produced an overall return to investors of over 25% pa sinceit was formed in 2002 and 22% in the 12-month period to the end of December2005. Philip Nell, Fund Manager for The Mall at Morley Fund Management comments: "With 23 shopping centres now in The Mall Fund, we own around 9% of the UKinstitutionally benchmarked shopping centre market. This means we can offer avery high degree of risk diversification within the sector, which is obviouslyvery attractive to potential investors. In particular we are delighted towelcome our first two investors from continental Europe, a sign that the retailmarket in the UK is still a strong draw." Ken Ford, Chief Executive of The Mall comments: "The innovative operational and fund management approach we take continues todrive strong performance for our investors. Last year we spent over £678m onnew Malls and plan to grow the Fund to 30 within the next 2 to 3 years. TheMall is all about providing our retail partners with the best possibleenvironment to do business and it is this collaborative approach that sets usapart in the sector, enabling our retailers to make more money and for us toenhance returns for our investors" The Mall Fund, launched in March 2002, was established by clients of Morley FundManagement and Capital &Regional plc to own and operate community shoppingcentres under The Mall brand, throughout the UK. The Mall was launched withassets of £656m comprising 11 shopping centres. Four years on investors in the fund include ING Real Estate, Prudential PropertyInvestment Managers, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, Hermes Real Estate,F&C Asset Management, Arlington Property Investors, Capital & Regional andMorley Fund Management. As at March 2006, The Mall Fund has assets ofapproximately £2.79bn in 23 shopping centres throughout the UK making it thelargest UK sector focussed property fund. The Mall manages over 8.2m sq ft ofretail space, hosting 1,000 retailers and welcoming over 230 million shoppers ayear. DTZ Corporate Finance acted for Morley Fund Management in the sale of thisequity. - ends- Notes to editors: About Capital & Regional plc Capital & Regional is the co-investing asset manager which specialises in towncentre shopping centres, out of town retail parks, and urban entertainmentcomplexes. Capital & Regional founded the Mall and Junction Funds in conjunction withMorley Fund Management. It also founded the X-Leisure fund with HermesInvestment Management Limited, and has a number of other joint ventures anddevelopments. Its shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. For further information visit: www.capreg.com About The Mall The Mall is the leading owner and operator of community shopping centres in theUK. The Mall has assets of £2.79 billion in 23 shopping centres and has plansto grow assets to 30 centres, establishing The Mall as the UK's communityshopping centre brand. The Mall Fund is a specialist property fund managed byCapital & Regional and Morley Fund Management. For further information, visit: www.themall.co.uk About Morley Fund Management Morley Fund Management Limited is the UK-based asset management business ofAviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage £155bn fromoffices around the world as at 31 January 2006. The property team manages inexcess of £23 billion of UK and European property assets, making Morley thelargest property fund manager in Europe. Winners of the high profile Property Week Fund Manager of the Year Award 2004and the UK Pensions Awards Property Fund Manager of the Year 2005, the teamconsists of over 70 investment professionals and manages a range of funds onbehalf of institutional, wholesale and retail clients. Morley has been at theforefront of innovation in property fund management and has launched elevenspecialist sector based funds with partners, including the Jersey-based UnitTrusts: Igloo Regeneration Fund, Quercus Healthcare Property, The Junction andThe Mall. For further information, visit: www.morleyproperty.com - ENDS - For further information: Capital & Regional:Martin Barber, Chief Executive Tel. 020 7932 8101 Redwood Consulting:Paul Haines/Liz D'Oliveira Tel: 020 7828 5553 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