2nd Jan 2008 12:00
Unite Group PLC02 January 2008 Date: 02 January 2008 On behalf of: The UNITE Group plc UNITE ANNOUNCES BOARD CHANGES The Board of The UNITE Group plc ("UNITE" / "Group"), the UK's leading providerof student accommodation, today announces that Tony Harris, Chief FinancialOfficer, will step down from the Board on 2 January 2008 by mutual agreement.After an orderly handover period he will then leave the Group at the end ofJanuary. Joe Lister, who has been with UNITE for over five years, has beenappointed to succeed Tony as Chief Financial Officer and will join the Board on2nd January. Joe (36) qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in1997. He joined UNITE as Corporate Finance Manager in May 2002, was promoted toCorporate Finance Director in January 2004 and to Investment Director inDecember 2005. Working closely with Mark Allan, he led the teams responsible fora number of significant financing transactions, most notably the establishmentof the £350 million Capital Cities Joint Venture with GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd(March 2005) and the £1 billion UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund (November2006). Joe has also been responsible for arranging numerous debt facilities witha large number of the Group's lenders. In January 2007, Joe was appointed Managing Director, responsible for thesuccessful pilot of the Group's Graduate Housing business, Livocity. Geoffrey Maddrell, Chairman of UNITE, said: "We are delighted to welcome Joe to the Board as Chief Financial Officer. Hebrings with him a deep understanding of our business built up over the past fiveyears and has broad experience across the financial community particularly inbringing new sources of capital to the Group through the creation of funds andstrategic joint ventures. UNITE has a strong culture of internal development andI would like to congratulate Joe Lister on his appointment. "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Harris very much forhis contribution and wish him every success in the future." No further details remain to be disclosed for the appointment as required underLR 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority. ENDS For further details please contact: Mark Allan Telephone: 0117 302 7004 Tabitha Aldrich-Smith Telephone: 07971 919610 The UNITE Group plc Email: [email protected] Stephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore Telephone: 020 7831 3113 Financial Dynamics Email: [email protected] / [email protected] About UNITE • UNITE is the UK's leading provider of student accommodation; • UNITE currently operates accommodation for 38,000 students in key university markets across England, Wales and Scotland • The value of UNITE's completed property portfolio is estimated to be worth £2 billion. • UNITE has a dedicated website for students who are looking to find accommodation at www.unite-students.com • UNITE is a founding member of the ANUK Code of Standards for Larger Developments, all properties are signed up to this code ensuring high standards of accommodation, service and security. UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund At the end of 2006, UNITE established the £1billion UNITE UK StudentAccommodation Fund and sold an initial portfolio to it for £515 million. Theprincipal objectives of this transaction were: • to release capital that was tied up in mature, stabilised investment assets for investment into higher added value development activity; • to provide UNITE with more growth capital in the medium term; and • to diversify UNITE's sources of income by providing a new, valuable revenue stream arising from management fees from the Fund. The Fund helped transform UNITE's business model to that of developer of newpurpose-built student accommodation and manager of funds which own studentaccommodation properties operated by UNITE and in which the Group has asignificant minority stake. UNITE Student Accommodation, designed for students • Dedicated on-site hospitality management team offering 24/7 support to customers. • A wide choice of rooms available from single studio flats for students who want to live on their own, or, typically 5/6 bedroom flats to share with friends. • Common room facilities, including Sky TV and pool tables, are often used for social events. A number of properties offer gyms exclusively for residents' use. • Rents and availability vary in each town/city and a variety of payment plans are in place to suit students. UNITE focuses on the provision and management of high quality, well-locatedstudent accommodation and hospitality services at affordable prices in stronghigher education markets. UNITE undertakes the planning work, development andmanagement of sites, often working closely with the Universities and Colleges todeliver accommodation for students across all ages and nationalities. UNITEdevelopments typically show high occupancy levels as demand continues to risefor places on UK Higher Education courses and for high-quality, safeaccommodation. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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