16th Feb 2007 07:00
Alpha Pyrenees Trust Limited16 February 2007 For publication in the United Kingdom only. Not for release, publication ordistribution in or into any other jurisdiction including the United States,Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Republic of Ireland or Japan. 16 February 2007 Alpha Pyrenees Trust Limited ("Alpha Pyrenees" or the "Company") Acquires Further Interest in Paris Business Park The Board of Alpha Pyrenees (the "Board") is pleased to announce that it hasacquired the remaining 23 per cent. share in a 77,000 square metre business parkcomprising in total 20 office, warehouse and research and development buildings(the "Business Park") in France. This acquisition follows the prior acquisition of a 77 per cent. interest in theBusiness Park, as announced on 27 December 2006. The Company exercised an option to acquire the remaining share of the businesspark from IPGL Fund Investments Limited ("IPGL"). The total consideration forthe acquisition of this minority interest, taking into account the assumed debt,is approximately €28.6 million. The purchase consideration will be satisfied bythe Company's existing cash resources and the Alpha Pyrenees group debtfacility. The total rent from the Business Park will be approximately €9.6 million perannum, giving an annual rental yield of approximately 7.3 per cent includingcosts. Phillip Rose, CEO of Alpha Real Capital (investment manager to the Company),commented: "We are delighted to announce the acquisition of this remaining interest givingAlpha Pyrenees 100 per cent. ownership. This is a strategically located, highquality asset which is rented for a minimum nine year period to a largemultinational group that has demonstrated a long term commitment to the site. Itwill produce an annual rental yield of approximately 7.3 per cent. with thepotential to add value to the portfolio through future development andrefurbishment. The total consideration for this asset is €124.5 million, whichincreases total assets acquired by the Company to date to over €250 million." Contact: Richard Kingston, Chairman, Alpha Pyrenees Trust 01481 715 601 Phillip Rose, CEO, Alpha Real Capital 020 7591 1609 Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken or distributed intothe United States of America or distributed or published, directly orindirectly, in the United States of America. Any failure to comply with thisrestriction may constitute a violation of US securities law. The securitiesreferred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the USSecurities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not beoffered or sold in the United States to or for the benefit of US persons unlessthey are registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an availableexemption there from. No public offering of securities is being made in theUnited States. The distribution of this announcement and information containedherein may be restricted by law in other jurisdictions and therefore personsinto whose possession this announcement or information contained herein comesshould inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Notes: ABOUT ALPHA REAL CAPITAL Alpha Real Capital is a value-adding international property fund managementgroup with operations in both the French and Spanish real estate markets. AlphaReal Capital was established by Phillip Rose and Sir John Beckwith. Phillip Rose has 25 years' experience in the real estate, funds management andbanking industries in Europe, the USA and Australasia. He has been Head of RealEstate for ABN AMRO Bank, Chief Operating Officer of European shopping centreinvestor and developer TrizecHahn Europe (where he was responsible for a €1billion European investment and development programme from 1999-2000), ManagingDirector of Lend Lease Global Investment where, during his tenure from 1994 to1999, he was responsible for managing European property investments andExecutive Manager of listed fund General Property Trust. He is currently anon-executive director of Great Portland Estates and a member of the ManagementCommittee of the Hermes Property Unit Trust. Sir John Beckwith has been involved in property investment and other investmentfor his entire working life. He founded London & Edinburgh Trust PLC ("LET") in1971 where he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and developed it into oneof the top ten listed real estate companies in the UK. Following the sale ofLET, he established Pacific Investments through which he co-founded a number ofsuccessful asset management businesses, including Liontrust Asset Management andThames River Capital. Alpha Real Capital is the Investment Manager to Alpha Pyrenees. Alpha RealCapital's European Funds Director, Paul Cable, is Fund Manager, Alpha PyreneesTrust. Paul Cable has 27 years experience in the real estate and bankingindustries in the UK, Europe and the Far East and was previously responsible forSir John Beckwith's property investment activities in France and Spain for sixyears. Further information is available at www.alphapyreneestrust.com including contactdetails for Alpha Real Capital's UK, French and Spanish offices. ABOUT ALPHA PYRENEES Alpha Pyrenees is a Guernsey registered closed-ended investment companyinvesting in French and Spanish commercial real estate. Investment Strategy Alpha Pyrenees' strategy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of propertiesin France and Spain, focusing on commercial property in the industrial,logistics, office and retail sectors. Alpha Real Capital believes that therewill be capital growth opportunities in the portfolio through income growth,active asset management and yield compression. Directors The Directors of the Company, all of whom are non-executive, are responsible forthe implementation of the investment policy of the Company and the overallsupervision of the Group's activities. The Board consists of: Richard Kingston (Chairman) Christopher Bennett David Jeffreys Phillip Rose Serena Tremlett Richard Kingston was an executive director of Slough Estates Plc, one of thelargest London Stock Exchange listed property companies. He was responsible forGroup Finance at Slough Estates Plc for nine years, and chairman of theircontinental European real estate activities. He was a non-executive director ofMersey Docks and Harbour Company and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. ABOUT IPGL IPGL Fund Investments Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of IPGL Limited, acompany in which Michael Spencer, together with his wife and family trusts, aremajority shareholders. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Alpha Group International