Wt Wner Usd Regulatory News (WNER)

24 Oct 2005 07:00

Warner Estate Holdings PLC24 October 2005 Warner Estate Holdings PLC WARNER ESTATE FORMS NEW SHOPPING CENTRE FUND AND CONFIRMS £151.47m ACQUISITION Warner Estate Holdings PLC ("Warner Estate"), the property investment company,has today announced that, on behalf of the Agora Max Shopping Centre Fund ("Agora Max"), it has acquired the Pallasades Shopping Centre, Birmingham from The Mall Limited Partnership for £151.47 million. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 5.36% rising to 6% on reversion in September 2006. The 289,725 sq ft (26,915 sq m) Pallasades Shopping Centre occupies a primelocation above Birmingham's New Street Station and forms part of Network Railand Birmingham City Council's plans for the redevelopment of the station and itsimmediate surroundings. Prior to the acquisition, Warner Estate has alreadybeen in detailed discussions with both Network Rail and the City Council aboutthe redevelopment scheme. Developers, Bride Hall, will work closely with WarnerEstate on the proposed development programme. The Pallasades is anchored by a number of major national retailers includingArgos, Boots, HMV and Woolworths and served by a 1000 space multi-storey carpark. A £2.5 million link was completed in November 2004, connecting thePallasades with the recently redeveloped Bullring shopping centre. LadywoodHouse, which comprises 95,500 sq ft (8,872 sq m) of office accommodation abovethe centre, is also included in the purchase. The Pallasades is the first acquisition made by Agora Max, a new property fundcreated by Warner Estate and joint venture partner Bank of Scotland. Agora Maxhas been created with the aim of producing consistent high investment returnsfrom the ownership and active management of a portfolio of sub regional shoppingcentres across the UK. Warner Estate and Bank of Scotland have already worked together closely on theAgora Shopping Centre Fund, which owns and manages seven shopping centres in theNorth West of England. Commenting on the purchase, Michael Stevens, Operations Director at WarnerEstate said, " We are delighted to announce the formation of the Agora Max Shopping CentreFund. The new fund marks a significant milestone in the ongoing growth of WarnerEstate. " Sitting alongside the Agora Shopping Centre Fund, which has established asuccessful track record of adding value to shopping centres in the North West,Agora Max enables Warner Estate to invest in sub regional shopping centresacross the UK. We are confident that the consistently high returns achieved byAgora can be replicated in Agora Max. Our objective is to build up the fundthrough active management and well chosen acquisitions. " The Pallasades is an excellent first acquisition for Agora Max. BirminghamCity Centre has benefited from large scale redevelopment over the last fiveyears. We believe that, given the first class location, the Pallasades offersexcellent potential and we look forward to working closely with Network Rail andBirmingham City Council. " -ends- Date: 24 October 2005 For further information contact: Warner Estate Holdings PLC cityPROFILE Philip Warner, Chairman Simon Courtenay Michael Stevens, Operations Director Oliver Winters Peter Collins, Finance Director Tel: 020-7448-3244 Tel: 020-7907-5100 Web: www.warnerestate.co.uk Bank of Scotland Neil Burnett - Director of Joint Ventures Tel: 0131-659-0578 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange