Plaza Regulatory News (PLAZ)

18 Feb 2008 08:00

Plaza Centers N.V.18 February 2008 18 February 2008 PLAZA CENTERS ACQUIRES ITS SIXTH PROJECT IN ROMANIA Plaza Centers N.V. ("Plaza" or the "Company"), a leading emerging marketsproperty developer, today announces that it has acquired a site in Honedoara,Romania. The 41,000 sqm site, near to Honedoara city centre, will be developed into amodern, western style shopping and entertainment centre, with a built area of28,000 sqm, and 20,000 sqm of lettable space. It is ideally located alongsidethe main road to the city centre, and has a large catchment area of 500,000people in the region. The development project is expected to cost approximately EUR 37 million.Construction is expected to start in mid 2008 with a completion target of Q12010. This acquisition represents Plaza's sixth development scheme in Romania since itacquired its first project in November 2006. The Company's other schemes inRomania include its developments at Slatina, Iasi, Timisoara, Miercurea Ciucand, most significantly, its landmark Casa Radio scheme in the heart ofBucharest, which comprises more than 500,000 sqm of built area includingshopping, leisure, office and conference facilities. In total, Plaza is now inthe process of developing over 700,000 sqm of retail and leisure space acrossthe country, with anticipated completion dates ranging from 2008 to 2012. Commenting on the deal, Ran Shtarkman, CEO, Plaza Centers N.V. said: "Honedoara, with a population of 80,000 people, is an expanding city which isbenefiting from a significant level of new investment. We see this project as anopportunity to offer a unique shopping and entertainment experience for peoplein the region, who previously have not had access to such high qualityfacilities. We believe that we can attract some major local and internationalbrands to the area, with demand for prime retail sites strong across all partsof Romania. "Plaza has a proven ability to create significant value for shareholders fromthis type of development project, by offering a unique product on time andwithin budget. We continue to look for further opportunities in Romania andacross the rest of our target market." Ends For further details please contact: Plaza Ran Shtarkman +36 1 462 7221Roy Linden +36 1 462 7105 Financial DynamicsStephanie Highett/Laurence Jones +44 20 7831 3113 Notes to Editors Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading emerging marketsdeveloper of shopping and entertainment centres. It focuses on constructing newcentres and, where there is significant redevelopment potential, redevelopingexisting centres in both capital cities and important regional centres. TheCompany is dual listed on the Main Board of the London Stock Exchange and, as of19 October 2007, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (LSE:"PLAZ", WSE: "PLZ/PLAZACNTR").Plaza Centers N.V. is an indirect subsidiary of Elbit Imaging Ltd. ("EIL"), anIsraeli public company whose shares are traded on both the Tel Aviv StockExchange in Israel and the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States. Plaza Centers is a member of the Europe Israel Group of companies which iscontrolled by its founder, Mr Mordechay Zisser. It has been active in realestate development in emerging markets for over 12 years. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange