Dci Advisors Regulatory News (DCI)

20 Dec 2006 07:01

Dolphin Capital Investors Limited20 December 2006 For release 7.00am 20 December 2006 Dolphin Capital Investors Limited ("DCI" or the "Company") €24 million commitment in Sitia Bay Golf Resort in Greece Dolphin Capital Investors, a real estate investment company focused on theMaster-planned Residential Resort sector in Southeast Europe and managed byDolphin Capital Partners ("DCP"), is pleased to announce the signing of a newinvestment in Sitia Bay Golf Resort, situated on the island of Crete, Greece. DCI is one of the largest real estate investment companies listed on AIM. Itfocuses on early-stage, large scale leisure-integrated residential resortsmainly in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey. The Company's shares commencedtrading on AIM on 8 December 2005, having raised £70.7 million (€104 million) atan issue price of 68p, followed by a £202.7 million (€300 million) secondaryoffering at a price of 93p per share in October 2006. Highlights: • Sitia Bay Golf Resort ("Sitia Bay" or the "Project") represents DCI's fifth investment in Greece and will combine residential units, a beach-front luxury hotel, an 18-hole golf course, a golf clubhouse, a beach & country club, an 85-berth marina and other leisure facilities. • The 204-hectare site is only a 10 minute-drive from Sitia Airport on the island of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. • DCI is committing a total of €24 million to fund a staged acquisition of 79.656% of the SPV that owns 94.155% of the Project company and the initial stages of development expenses. The remaining shares are owned by Greek Marble Industry Technical & Tourist Company Iktinos Hellas SA ("Iktinos"), a publicly traded company on the Athens Stock Exchange. Evangelos Chaidas, President of Iktinos will remain as the Project's appointed development partner until the permit approval stage. • The Project is considered to be one of the most advanced residential resort developments in Crete in terms of permits, having already received approval of the Environmental Impact Study for the hotel and marina, the most critical permit in the pre-construction phase. The permitting process is expected to be concluded in 2008. Said Pierre Charalambides, Partner of DCP: "Sitia Bay marks our first investmentin the largest of the Greek islands, the island of Crete, which is of strategicimportance in our sector." Further Details: Sitia Bay Golf Resort represents DCI's first investment in Crete, the mostpopular Greek tourist destination with 2.2 million visitors last year and one ofthe main beneficiaries of the influx of foreign investments in the real estatesector that is anticipated over the coming years. The Project is being designed as a sea-front master-planned, leisure integratedresidential resort aiming for approximately 100,000 m2 of buildable residentialunits, a 200-room luxury hotel, a convention centre, an 18-hole championshipgolf course, a golf clubhouse, a beach & country club and other leisurefacilities. The site is situated on a secluded peninsula of unspoilt natural beauty on theisland of Crete. Crete is the largest of the Greek islands with threeinternational airports in Chania, Heraklion, and Sitia. Sitia Bay is only a 10minute-drive from Sitia Airport, a 1.5-hour drive east from HeraklionInternational Airport and a 15-minute drive from Sitia Harbour. The Project is considered to be one of the most advanced residential resortdevelopments in Crete in terms of permits, having already received approval ofthe Environmental Impact Study for the hotel and marina, the most criticalpermit in the pre-construction phase. The permitting process is expected to beconcluded in 2008. DCI is acquiring a 79.656% stake in the SPV which owns 94.155% of the Projectcompany. The remaining shares of the SPV remain in the ownership of Iktinos (the"Seller"). The Company has agreed to pay in stages subject to permits being inplace within the next two years. A €10 million payment and investment will bemade upfront and a further €5.3 million payment will be made upon the Sellerobtaining all required construction permits. An additional €8 million isallocated to progress the Project's permitting and early development phases aswell as to acquire additional contiguous land. The total commitment of DCI istherefore €24 million (inclusive of €0.7 million of transfer taxes and closingcosts payable for the completion of the investment). For further information, please contact: Dolphin Capital Partners Limited Tel: +30 210 3614 255 Miltos Kambourides / Pierre Charalambides miltos@dolphincp.com / pierre@dolphincp.com Grant Thornton Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 (Nominated Adviser) Philip Secrett Panmure Gordon Tel: +44 (0) 20 7459 3600 (Broker) Richard Gray / Dominic Morley / Andrew Potts Adventis Financial PR Annie Evangeli Tel: +44 (0) 20 7034 4757 Peter Binns Tel: +44 (0) 20 7034 4760 Notes to Editors Dolphin Capital Partners DCP is an independent investment management business founded in 2004 by MiltosKambourides and Pierre Charalambides after leaving Soros Real Estate Partners. The DCP professionals combine extensive local knowledge and contacts withexpertise gained at some of the world's leading financial institutions. Theyspecialise in providing capital to rigorously selected real estate developmentsin Southeast Europe by joint venturing with local developers. DCP is using inevery development an international and sophisticated network of operators,designers, master-planners, marketing agents and financial institutions. Dolphin Capital Investors In addition to Sitia Bay, DCI has closed investments in five other projects,namely Kilada Hills Golf Resort, Scorpio Bay Resort, Apollo Heights Polo Resort,Amanmila Resort and Lavender Hills Golf Resort, committing a total of €169million. DCI's investment objective is to provide shareholders with string capital growthcombined with low risk profile through investing in early-stage sophisticatedleisure-integrated resort developments in South East Europe (principally Greece,Cyprus, Turkey and Croatia) in partnership with leading developers andoperators. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange