Acquisition(s)

31 October 2006

SLOUGH ESTATES USA ACQUIRES LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS HQ IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 

Slough Estates USA ("SEUSA" or "the Group") today announced that it has signed
a definitive agreement to acquire the corporate headquarters and two adjacent
undeveloped pieces of land in Torrey Pines Science Center, San Diego
California, from Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: LGND). The purchase price
for the building and 5.4 acres of land which will support about 90,000 square
feet of future biotech development is $47.6 million. The building is 82,500
square feet.

Torrey Pines, San Diego is one of the largest and most dynamic life sciences
clusters in the world. SEUSA has already established a significant presence at
"ground zero" of this cluster in the heart of the Torrey Pines. The acquisition
of the Ligand facility, together with the vacant land adjacent to it,
reinforces SEUSA's existing portfolio of product in Torrey Pines in the Torrey
Pines Science Center and positions the Group to benefit from the anticipated
growth of the biotech community in the years to come.

Marshall Lees, President and CEO, Slough Estates USA Inc commented:

"This acquisition is consistent with the Group's strategy to nurture the
existing US business in a location where SEUSA is already very well positioned.
We are seeing growing demand for our product in this area, particularly for the
5,000 to 20,000 square feet size class.

"There are currently no other major development sites available in Torrey
Pines. We believe that this acquisition of the Ligand facility is timely and
that together with the vacant land adjacent to it, reinforces SEUSA's existing
portfolio of product in Torrey Pines in the Torrey Pines Science Centre."

For further information please contact:

Slough Estates plc                      Maitland                               
Michael Waring                          Colin Browne/Peter Ogden/Liz Morley    
Tel: [phone]                       Tel: [phone]                     

Notes to editors

Slough Estates International

Slough Estates is the leading European provider of flexible business space and
owns business parks in Europe and North America, with property assets of £
5.6bn, with over four million square metres of business space and over 1,700
customers - all as at 30 June 2006. SEI has an annual rent roll of £289m and
the weighted average unexpired lease length is 11.9 years. Flexible business is
space on industrial sites or business parks which is put to multiple uses, such
as manufacturing, light assembly, distribution (both "small" and "big-box"),
research and development, offices and warehousing. Slough Estates' properties
are in suburban locations in close proximity to the main business centres,
where there is long term demand for business accommodation to serve these key
economic regions. The company continues to develop new business parks with the
long term objective of building shareholder value and enhancing its reputation
for quality buildings offering excellent value to customers. 
www.sloughestates.com

About Ligand

Ligand discovers, develops and markets new drugs that address critical unmet
medical needs of patients in the areas of cancer, pain, skin diseases, men's
and women's hormone-related diseases, osteoporosis, metabolic disorders, and
cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Ligand's proprietary drug discovery
and development programs are based on its leadership position in gene
transcription technology, primarily related to intracellular receptors. For
more information, go to http://www.ligand.com