22nd Aug 2007 12:34
European Convergence Develop. CoPLC22 August 2007 22 August 2007 EUROPEAN CONVERGENCE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC Bulgaria Joint Venture Development Agreement European Convergence Development Company Limited ("ECDC" or the "Company") ispleased to announce that it signed a Preliminary Land Purchase Agreement on 22August 2007 with Sienit Holding AD, a Bulgarian company, for the development ofa shopping mall together with a number of adjacent big-box and retail warehouseoutlets in Bourgas city currently known as "Bourgas Retail Park". ECDC's participation will be via a contribution of 70% of the equity requiredfor the project via a €8.925 million shareholder loan into a SPV companyestablished for the acquisition of the land and the execution of the project.For this contribution ECDC has secured 60% of the development proceeds. Sienit'sparticipation in the land acquisition will also be on the basis of ashareholder's loan, initially provided on a collateralized and short-term basisof 180 days by ECDC. Sienit is ECDC's joint venture partner for the development of Galleria Plovdiv a100,000 sqm retail mall announced as a part of ECDC's listing on 18 June 2007. Bourgas Retail Park is forecast to provide over 60,000 sqm of Gross LettableArea. Total development costs (including land) are estimated at c. €60 millionand the project has an expected duration of 30 months. Bourgas is one of Bulgaria's top five cities with a population of c.215,000. Thedevelopment site is located to the southern edge of the city with a roadfrontage of 250 meters on the main highway connecting Bourgas with the country'ssouthern coastal resorts. The Bourgas Retail Park project is the Company's fifth joint venture project andbrings the total amount of equity committed by the Company to c.€36 million(assuming that any outstanding conditions precedent on respective projects aremet). Anderson Whamond, Director, European Convergence Development Company plc, said:"We are delighted to expand our working relationship with Sienit Holding AD.Bourgas is a principal university city and the proposed development isconsidered a positive attribute for the city's future economic development andprestige." For further information please contact: Anderson Whamond, Director, European Convergence Development Company plc 01624 640200 Varda Lotan/Christopher Fitzwilliam Lay, Charlemagne Capital(UK) Limited 020 7518 2100 Hugh Morgan/Jonathan Lack/Stuart Gledhill, Panmure Gordon (Broking) Limited 020 7459 3600 John Kiely/George Hudson/Anne Howalt, Smithfield Consultants Limited 020 7360 4900 Notes to Editors European Convergence Development Company plc is an Isle of Man companyestablished to take advantage of opportunities that exist in the propertymarkets of South-East Europe. Following the Company's recent IPO it now hascapital of €96 million. ECDC is managed by Charlemagne Capital (IOM) Limited(the "Manager"). ECDC intends to invest in a range of early developments which may comprise anyor all of the following sectors in South-East Europe: residential, retail,commercial and industrial property. The principal target countries are Bulgaria,Romania and Turkey. Opportunities in Croatia and Slovakia may also be sought.The Manager is currently finding more opportunities for investment in Bulgariaand Romania than in the other aforementioned countries. ECDC will primarily seekto invest in early stage developments whereby it co-invests with local andinternational property developers. Whilst considered unlikely, the Company couldbe the sole investor on any particular project. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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