Plaza Regulatory News (PLAZ)

28 Aug 2007 08:00

Plaza Centers N.V.28 August 2007 28 August 2007 PLAZA CENTERS MAKES DEBUT IN SERBIA Plaza Centers N.V. ("Plaza" or the "Company"), a leading Central and EasternEuropean emerging markets property developer, today announces that it has won acompetitive tender from the Government of Serbia for the development of a newshopping, entertainment and business centre on a total built up area of circa.100,000sqm (with over 2000 parking spaces) in Belgrade, Serbia. This projectrepresents Plaza's first step into the Serbian market and fulfils one of theCompany's expansion objectives set out in its Prospectus. The new complex will be located on the prominent site of the former FederalMinistry of Internal Affairs, situated on the main street which runs through thecentre of Belgrade. The area is home to foreign embassies, including those ofthe United States, Canada, Germany, Poland among others. In addition the SerbianGovernment, Ministry of Finance, Belgrade chamber of commerce and Belgrade'slargest public hospital are all nearby, as well as the city fair and the futurerailway station. Plaza will partner local Serbian developer for the project, which is expected tohave a gross development budget of €150 million. The local partner will beentitled to participate in up to 15% of the project, subject to certainconditions while the project management will be rendered solely by Plaza. Serbia is one of the Eastern European nations where Plaza sees strong potentialfor future investment opportunities. Plaza also believes that the Belgrademarket offers particular potential, with its large populated catchment area ofapproximately 2.5 million people. Additionally, as Belgrade has not to datebenefited from 'institutional grade' investment in retail or commercial realestate, this development will have particular significance in terms of providinga new commercial and cultural destination for both domestic and internationalvisitors. Commenting on the handover agreement, Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO of PlazaCenters N.V., said: "We are very excited to be taking our first steps into the Serbian market, wherewe believe our skills and experience in delivering large-scale mixed-usedevelopments can produce significant value, both for our shareholders and forthe centre's tenants and visitors. "In addition, we look forward to playing a part in the delivery of a newcommercial and cultural centre for Belgrade, which we hope will attract a rangeof high quality international and domestic tenants and thereby unlock theconsiderable potential we see within the Serbian market." For further details please contact: Plaza Mordechay Zisser, Chairman +972 3 6086000 Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO +36 1 462 7221 Roy Linden, CFO +36 1 462 7105 Financial Dynamics +44 20 7831 3113 Stephanie Highett/Lauren Mills Notes to Editors • Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading emergingmarkets developer of shopping and entertainment centres, focusing onconstructing new centres and, where there is significant redevelopmentpotential, redeveloping existing centres, in both capital cities and importantregional centres. The Company is an indirect subsidiary of Elbit Medical ImagingLtd. ("EMIL"), an Israeli public company whose shares are traded on both the TelAviv Stock Exchange in Israel and the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States. • 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