21st Mar 2007 07:04
Tesco PLC21 March 2007 TESCO ANNOUNCES NEW PROPERTY JOINT VENTURE Tesco today announced a £650 million property joint venture with British Land,an existing partner in a number of other property transactions. The deal will generate Tesco net proceeds of £570 million, with recognisedproperty profits of £142 million. The 50/50 joint venture enables Tesco torelease funding for its future growth, whilst maintaining the flexibility tooperate and adapt its property assets. This partnership is the second phase of the property sale and leasebackprogramme announced in April 2006, and follows a transaction with BritishAirways Pension Fund, announced in January 2007, which raised proceeds of £445million. The joint venture takes advantage of attractive conditions within the debt andequity markets, being reflected in an initial yield of less than 4.5%. The soledebt provider was Goldman Sachs International. The transaction includes 21 Tesco stores, accounting for approximately 3% ofTesco UK property assets by square footage. The joint venture is for a term of20 years with an early termination option in 2017. Annual rental uplifts arelinked to a limited prices index calculated by reference to RPI, collaredbetween zero and 3.5% per annum. Contacts: Investor Relations: Chris Griffith 01992 644 116Press: Jonathan Church 01992 644 645 Angus Maitland 020 7379 5151 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
TescoBritish Land