Trinity Capital Regulatory News (TRC)

22 Jun 2007 07:02

Trinity Capital PLC22 June 2007 Trinity Capital PLC ("Trinity") Announces the acquisition of a stake in Phoenix Mills Trinity is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire a shareholding inThe Phoenix Mills Limited ("Phoenix Mills"), listed on the Bombay stockexchange. Trinity will acquire 0.37 million shares for INR 592 million / £7.38million, at a price of INR 1600 / £19.95 per share, a discount to the marketprice of INR 1900 / £23.69.* As a result Trinity will have a shareholding ofapproximately 1.66% in Phoenix Mills. * The market price on 18 June 2007. Exchange rate of GBP 1 = INR 80.20 Trinity's investment gives it the opportunity to participate in the growth ofPhoenix Mills and to take advantage of opportunities to invest in futureprojects and entity level financings. In addition, the investment in PhoenixMills significantly enhances Trinity's retail portfolio in India's rapidlyexpanding retail sector. Phoenix Mills is currently involved in seven retail leddevelopments covering 15 million sq ft and is also an experienced mall operatorwho will be actively involved in the development and managment of Trinity's ownretail projects. Deutsche Bank and Americorp will also be investing in PhoenixMills alongside Trinity. In April, 2007, the merger of Phoenix Mills with Ashok Ruia Group, a developerof retail complexes and hotels, was announced. The merger is expected to becomplete by October 2007. Phoenix Mills pioneered the 'market city' concept. Market cities are retail-ledlarge scale developments that are typically in city centre locations, andcomprise state of the art retail, commercial, entertainment and hotel facilitiesand the sites are designed to be destinations in themselves. Currently, PhoenixMills plans to develop seven market cities in Mumbai, Chennai, Thane, Pune,Raipur and Bangalore and is in advanced stages of closing deals to develop anadditional 10 market cities in various tier I and II cities across India. The company's flagship development is High Street Phoenix, a market citydevelopment in Lower Parel, South Mumbai, in a prominent commercial andresidential location. The four phase project will comprise 2.3 million sq ft ofmixed use real estate. Phases 1 and 2 were completed in 2005, consisting of 1million sq ft of residential, commercial and retail space, and have beencompletely sold or leased out. Phases 3 and 4 will consist of retail,commercial, educational and hospitality space. These are under construction andare scheduled to be completed by 2010. The retail market in India is expected to grow significantly in the comingyears. It is estimated by KSA-Technopak, a retail consulting and researchagency,that by 2010 organised retailing in India will increase to $21.5 billion,up from the current size of $7.5 billion. ICICI Property Services and Technopakestimate that the total real estate required by retail chains will be circa 500million sq ft, but only 143 million sq ft of mall space is currently beingplanned over the next five years, leaving a significant shortfall. Aashish Kalra, Managing Director of Trikona Capital, said: "Trinity is one ofthe best and largest commercial real estate players in the country. Trinity isdeveloping in excess of 75 mn sq. ft. of real estate which comprises qualitycommercial, hospitality and retail assets of 50 mn sq. ft. We have currentlyinvested £206 million, representing 88% of the funds raised at IPO,demonstrating the continued rapid progress we have made over the last 12 months." ENDS Enquiries: Trikona Capital Aashish Kalra +91 11 2620 7257Cardew Group Tim Robertson +44 20 7930 0777 Sofia Rehman Catherine MaitlandGutenberg Communications Harjiv Singh (New York) +1 212 209 3863 Pranav Kumar (Delhi) +91 98100 77898Numis Iain McDonald +44 20 7776 1567 Notes: • For further information and regular updates regarding the Fund'sactivities, please log on and sign up for news alerts at www.trinityplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange