First Property Regulatory News (FPO)

2 Sep 2005 07:30

First Property Group PLC02 September 2005 Embargoed til 0730 2nd September 2005 First Property Group plc Acquisition of Minority Shareholding in First Property Asset Management Ltd First Property Group plc ("Fprop" or "the Company") (AIM: FPO), the onlinecommercial property transaction platform and property asset manager, todaypurchased the 26% minority interest of John Nettleton in First Property AssetManagement Ltd ("FPAM") for £330,000 in cash. FPAM is now a wholly ownedsubsidiary of the Company. FPAM was incorporated in September 2002 to manage commercial property on behalfof third party funds. It currently manages £21 million of commercial property,which will rise to some £30 million once funds under management are fullyinvested. FPAM made a contribution, before the allocation of overheads, of£303,000 in the year to 31 March 2005 and ended that year with net liabilitiesof £210,000. John Nettleton is and will remain a director of FPAM. As a result of thisassociation he is deemed to be a related party for the purposes of thistransaction. The Company's directors consider, having consulted its nominatedadviser, Arden Partners, that the terms of the transaction are fair andreasonable in so far as shareholders are concerned. On 25 August 2005, Fprop announced that it had secured a new £50 millioncommercial property fund management mandate from the Universities SuperannuationScheme ("USS"). This mandate was won by another subsidiary within the Fpropgroup and not FPAM. For further information:Ben Habib, Chief Executive, First Property Group plc: 020 7731 2844Andrew Raca, Arden Partners Limited: 0121 423 8941Richard Sunderland, Tavistock Communications Limited: 020 7920 3150 0771 340 6291 Notes to Editors:First Property Group is an integrated, internet based, property services andasset management group. Its various divisions are: First Property Asset Management ("FPAM") - First Property Group's property fundmanagement subsidiary, commenced trading in October 2002. FPAM now has fivefunds, containing circa £21 million of property assets, under management. In addition to the activities carried out by FPAM, Fprop also recently signed anew £50 million commercial property fund management mandate from theUniversities Superannuation Scheme which can borrow up to three times the amountinvested. This fund will invest in commercial property in the United Kingdom,and Central and Eastern Europe, utilising Fprop's expertise in the UK and itsrecently opened Warsaw office. Typical lot sizes are likely to be between £3million and £30 million covering the retail, office and industrial sectors. Commercial Property Database ("CPD") - In 2001, Fprop acquired CPD, whichprovides access to its interactive database of UK properties exclusively tocommercial property agents via their own web sites, giving multiple searching ofsize, location and property type thus also providing agents with an incomegenerating facility. CPD provides database and web services to about 100commercial property agents in the UK. Online Sales of Properties - First Property Group plc operates a web basedbusiness-to-business property transaction platform established to facilitate thebuying and selling of UK commercial property. By combining an email marketingcampaign, to its database of some 35,000 property practitioners, with links todetailed property details at www.fprop.com, it sells property entirely onlinewithout the assistance of any traditional services. Property Transaction Underwriting - Given Fprop's access to property for sale,its financing capability, its online sales capability and its in-houseexpertise, the Company also operates a property transaction underwritingservice. This service allows Fprop to target vendors who have property for saleand offer to act as a buyer of last resort. If the property is sold on themarket, any upside above the guaranteed price is typically shared 50/50 betweenthe vendor and the Company. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange