8th Apr 2005 17:40
St. Modwen Properties PLC08 April 2005 St. Modwen Properties PLCStatement on MG Rover St. Modwen Properties PLC is a property development and investment companyconcentrating on regeneration. It has four particular areas of specialism: towncentre regeneration; partnering industry in its restructuring; renewal ofbrownfield land; and heritage restoration. St. Modwen Properties PLC ("St Modwen"), a leading UK developer, expressedregret at the news that MG Rover Group has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers ("PWC") as receivers. St. Modwen acquired the larger part of MG Rover'sLongbridge plant, 403 acres in total, in two transactions in 2003 and in 2004.The company paid a total consideration of £57.5m for the site and the agreementmade at the time was to lease it back to MG Rover for an annual aggregate rentof £5m. St. Modwen is also the development partner of Advantage West Midlands (AWM) onthe remaining 57 acres of the site which AWM acquired from MG Rover. Anthony Glossop, Chairman of St. Modwen, said "The MG Rover operation was always a potentially challenging project, and we arevery sad that so much hard work by so many people has in the end not beenrewarded with success. We created a flexible package which gave MG Rover everyopportunity to re-shape its property holdings according to its businessrequirements. In the short-term, the rent has been paid up to the end of June and we, asfreeholder of the property, will be working with PWC to assist wherever we can. If PWC found a purchaser for the whole business or for parts of it, we wouldwork with them to bring about the maximum viable retention of automotiveactivity at Longbridge. If there is no viable automotive solution, or if a purchaser only requires partof the site, then it is positive that the site is in the hands of St Modwen, anexperienced developer who knows it and the local market extremely well and is ina position to move quickly to help create alternative local employmentopportunities. In that eventuality, we would work closely with Birmingham CityCouncil, Bromsgrove District Council and AWM to put in place a regenerationstrategy which would provide new business projects at the earliest possibleopportunity." 8 April 2005 Enquiries St. Modwen Properties PLC www.stmodwen.co.ukAnthony Glossop, Chairman 0121 456 2800Bill Oliver, Chief Executive College Hill www.collegehill.comAlex Sandberg 020 7457 2020Dick Millard 07831 855 167 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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