Plaza Regulatory News (PLAZ)

7 Jan 2008 08:00

Plaza Centers N.V.07 January 2008 7 January 2007 PLAZA CENTERS WINS TENDER FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MAJOR RETAIL AND ENTERTAINMENT SCHEME IN KIELCE, POLAND Plaza Centers N.V. ("Plaza" or the "Company"), a leading emerging marketsproperty developer, today announces that it has won a competitive tender andacquired a site from PKS Kielce S.A. (the local branch of the Polish NationalBus Company) for the development of a major new shopping and entertainmentcentre in Kielce, Poland. This is the first new project Plaza has secured in Poland since its successfullisting on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in October 2007. Plaza has been highlyactive in CEE and Poland since 1996. It has built, managed and sold a total ofseven shopping centres located across Poland and is currently poised to startconstruction on a further three shopping and entertainment centres located inSuwalki, Torun and Zgorzelec and a mixed-use project in Lodz. The Company alsocontinues to seek further investment opportunities in the country. The new centre will be located on a 30,000 sqm plot alongside a major road andtwo kilometres from the heart of Kielce. Kielce has over 200,000 inhabitantsand an estimated catchment area of approximately 350,000, and is located inCentral Poland on the main motorway linking Warsaw and Krakow. On completion, the scheme will have a Gross Built Area of 57,000 sqm with 40,000sqm of Gross Leasable Area, and approximately 1,200 car-parking spaces. Plazawill be targeting a mixture of domestic and high-profile international retailersand entertainment operators as potential tenants for the centre. The project is expected to have a gross development budget of circa. €90million. Construction is anticipated to commence in the middle of 2009, withcompletion targeted for beginning of 2011. Commenting on the acquisition, Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO of Plaza CentersN.V., said: "Kielce is a fast-growing city which currently has only very limitedhigh-quality retail outlets or entertainment facilities to offer. We aredelighted to develop this major new scheme which will deliver an exciting moderncommercial and cultural centre for the inhabitants of Kielce and visitors to thecity. "We believe our skills and experience in developing large-scale developmentsshould enable us to create significant value, both for our shareholders and forthe centre's tenants and visitors, by attracting a range of high qualityinternational and domestic tenants and thereby unlocking Kielce's potential as aretail destination in Central Poland." For further details please contact: Plaza Mordechay Zisser, Chairman +972 3 6086000Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO +36 1 462 7221Roy Linden, CFO +36 1 462 7105 Financial Dynamics +44 20 7831 3113Stephanie Highett/Laurence Jones Notes to Editors • Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading emergingmarkets developer of shopping and entertainment centres. It focuses onconstructing new centres and, where there is significant redevelopmentpotential, redeveloping existing centres in both capital cities and importantregional centres. The Company is dual listed on the Main Board of the LondonStock Exchange and, as of 19 October 2007, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (LSE:"PLAZ", WSE: "PLZ/PLAZACNTR"). Plaza Centers N.V. is an indirect subsidiary of ElbitImaging Ltd. ("EIL"), an Israeli public company whose shares are traded on boththe Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Israel and the NASDAQ Global Market in the UnitedStates. • Plaza Centers is a member of the Europe Israel Group of companieswhich is controlled by its founder, Mr Mordechay Zisser. It has been active inreal estate development in emerging markets for over 11 years. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange