Plaza Regulatory News (PLAZ)

19 Jun 2007 11:38

Plaza Centers N.V.19 June 2007 19th June 2007 PLAZA CENTERS ANNOUNCES FURTHER TRANSACTION IN INDIA Plaza Centers N.V. ("Plaza" or the "Company"), a leading emerging marketsproperty developer, today announces that, in a 50%:50% joint venture with aleading Indian property developer, it has acquired a plot of land with an areaof approximately 10.78 acres (approximately 43,600 sq m), situated inTrivandrum, the capital city of the State of Kerala, India. The total cost of the land (including acquisition costs) amounted toapproximately 1,060 million Rupees (approximately £13.4 million). Plaza and its partner intend to use the plot to develop a project totallingapproximately 2.1 million sq ft (195,000 sq m), which is currently intended tocomprise: • A shopping and entertainment centre with a total area of approximately 720,000 sq ft (approximately 67,000 sq m); • An office complex with a total area approximately 970,000 sq ft (approximately 90,500 sq m); • A hotel and apartment hotel with a total area of approximately 400,000 sq ft (approximately 37,500 sq m). This acquisition follows the announcement on 26 February 2007 that Plaza hadacquired stakes in two joint venture projects in India through two wholly ownedsubsidiaries. The first was a fourteen acre plot of land in the Kharadidistrict of Pune, Maharashtra State, India, on which Plaza and its JV partnerintends to build a project totalling 2.4 million sq ft (225,000 sq m) which willinclude a shopping centre, office complex and serviced apartment facility. Thesecond was a six acre plot of land located in Koregaon Park, an up-market areaof Pune, on which the joint venture plans to construct a mixed-use scheme with atotal area of 1,180,000 sq ft (approximately 107,000 sq m) comprising a shoppingcentre and office building. The total investment in these two projects isanticipated to be circa $265 million (approximately £136.2 million). Commenting, Ran Shtarkman, the CEO of Plaza Centers, said: "This transaction further demonstrates Plaza's ambition to expand its activitiesbeyond Central and Eastern Europe. Coupled with the acquisition of our firststrategic development projects in India, which was announced earlier this yearin February, today's announcement marks a significant step in advancing PlazaCenters' presence in India. We look forward to bringing further transactions inIndia to fruition for our investors." - ENDS - For further details please contact: PlazaMordechay Zisser, Chairman +972 3 608 6000Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO +36 1 462 7221Roy Linden, CFO +36 1 462 7105 Financial Dynamics +44 20 7831 3113Stephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore/ Adam Leviton Notes to Editors Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading emerging marketsdeveloper of shopping and entertainment centres, focusing on constructing newcentres and, where there is significant redevelopment potential, redevelopingexisting centres, in both capital cities and important regional centres. TheCompany is an indirect subsidiary of Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd. ("EMIL"), 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 present in realestate development in emerging markets for over 10 years. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange