16th Mar 2007 13:00
Big Yellow Group PLC16 March 2007 16 March 2007 Big Yellow Group PLC ("Big Yellow", "the Group" or "the Company") Confirmation of REIT Status On the 17th of January 2007 Big Yellow Group PLC announced, as part of itsquarterly statement that it had elected to convert to a REIT. Pendingclarification of the status of its income HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) hadobjected to that notice. HMRC have now withdrawn their objection and have today confirmed Big Yellow'seligibility as a REIT, effective from 15 January 2007. The Group will now carry out a valuation of its qualifying property assets as at15 January to establish the amount of the 2% conversion charge. The result ofthe valuation and amount of conversion charge will be announced to shareholderswhen the valuation has been finalised. The Company intends shortly to convene an EGM to seek shareholder approval forcertain amendments to the Company's Articles of Association in connection withits conversion to REIT status. The EGM circular will contain full details of theproposed amendments and the reasons for them. James Gibson, Chief Executive, commented: "We are delighted that we have received confirmation of our conversion to REITstatus backdated to 15 January 2007. We believe that becoming a REIT will be of significant benefit to shareholderscreating an enhanced level of future dividends in a more tax efficient andtransparent structure. In addition we believe that the self storage industry asa whole will benefit from the creation of a growing specialist REIT sector, withimproved access to capital, driving further development of this relatively youngmarket." For further information, please contact: Big Yellow Group PLC 01276 477811Nicholas Vetch, ChairmanJames Gibson, Chief Executive Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700Louise Robson or John Moriarty Notes to Editors Big Yellow Group PLC is one of the leading and most dynamic self-storage groupsin the UK. It was founded in 1998 by Nicholas Vetch, Philip Burks and JamesGibson and listed on AIM in May 2000, moving to the Official List of the LondonStock Exchange in 2002. Big Yellow has expanded rapidly and now operates from 43 stores in London andthe South, and one in Leeds, with a further 19 stores in development and of the62, 51 are held freehold and two long leasehold. All the stores have thedistinct yellow branding, in accessible main road locations, with the majoritybeing within the M25 or in strong urban conurbations. When fully built out theportfolio will provide approximately 3.79 million sq ft of flexible storagespace. The Group has pioneered the development of the latest generation of self-storagefacilities, which utilise state of the art technology and are located in highprofile, main road locations. Its focus on the location and visibility of itsbuildings, coupled with excellent customer service, has created the mostrecognised brand name in the UK self-storage industry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Big Yellow