Sale of Active Hotels

Close Technology & General VCT PLC
22 September 2004









Close Venture Management

                                                               22 September 2004

                           CLOSE TECHNOLOGY & GENERAL VCT PLC

                      REALISES £5.2 MILLION ON SALE OF ACTIVE HOTELS

                       AND ANNOUNCES SECOND INTERIM CAPITAL DIVIDEND



Close Technology & General VCT PLC ('the VCT') managed by Close Venture
Management ('CVM') is pleased to announce the realisation of its holding in
Active Hotels PLC ('Active') for a consideration of £5.2 million receivable in
cash, following the £90 million sale of Active to PriceLine.com Inc., the
Nasdaq-listed provider of  internet-based travel services.  The VCT originally
invested £500,000 in Active in October 2001, for 5.9% of the fully diluted
equity.  The sale represents a total return of over 10 times the VCT's initial
investment.



Active, one of Europe's leading online reservation providers to the hotel
industry, has grown dramatically since the original investment and now services
over 7,500 hotels which it promotes across 1,500 websites, resulting in sales of
over 1.7 million hotel room nights per annum.



In addition to Close Technology & General VCT, two other funds managed by Close
Brothers have also benefited from the sale; Bamboo Investments also receives
£5.2 million for its 5.95% stake in Active, against a cost of £514,000, while
the First Close Technology Fund receives £10.5 million for its 11.8% stake
against a cost of £1 million.



Patrick Reeve, Managing Director of CVM, commented: 'This is a fantastic return
for our investors and a tribute to the excellence of the Active management team
and the strength of their business.'



Following the sale but before the second interim dividend referred to below, the
VCT had net realised capital profits of £3.3 million, equal to 23.5 pence per
share.  It is the Board's strategy to use these profits to supplement the VCT's
existing revenue reserves to generate an enhanced, sustainable level of
dividends going forwards.  With this in mind, the board now proposes to declare
a second interim dividend, out of realised capital profits, of 5 pence per
share, payable on 21 October to the shareholders on the register on 1 October.
When added to the first interim dividend of 1 penny, also payable on 21 October
2004 and the likely final dividend of 1 penny in respect of the year to 31
December 2004, payable in March 2005, this represents a total dividend for the
year of 7 pence per share.  This is a level which the Board would like to see
sustained thereafter, if possible, though Shareholders will understand that this
level cannot be guaranteed.



Following the sale, and the second interim dividend, the unaudited net asset
value of the VCT at 21 September was 104 pence per share.



For further information please visit www.closeventures.co.uk or contact:

Patrick Reeve/Will Fraser Allen                    Justin Griffiths/John West
Close Venture Management                           Tavistock Communications
Tel: [phone]                                 Tel: [phone]

Pierre Clarke/ Nigel Ashfield
Close Enterprise Management
Tel: [phone]



Notes to Editors



Close Venture Management



CVM is one of the most successful and longest established Venture Capital Trust
(VCT) managers.  It was formed in 1996 and currently manages a portfolio of four
VCTs which have to date raised a total of £115 million from private investors.



In addition, CVM advises the Healthcare & Leisure Property Fund, an Isle of
Man-based open-ended investment company participating in asset-based investments
made by its VCTs as well as acting as investment manager to Bamboo Investments
plc, an investment company specialising in early stage, high growth businesses,
principally in the technology sector.



Close Venture Management is one of the largest VCT managers with 8% of the
market and concentrates its investment strategy on lower investment risk and
higher dividend yield.



VCTs under management:



Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC invests in a broad range of unquoted
asset-backed businesses in the hotel, care home, residential property
development, health and fitness and cinema sectors.  It is aimed at providing
investors with a lower risk investment profile whilst at the same time
generating a strong dividend yield



Close Brothers Protected VCT PLC is similarly aimed at providing investors with
a lower risk investment opportunity with 50% of funds invested in asset-backed
businesses, as with the Close Brothers VCT.  The majority of the balance is
invested in a portfolio of 35 AIM stocks



Close Brothers Development VCT PLC provides equity and debt finance to growing
unquoted companies across a variety of sectors, with investments ranging from
technology-orientated to service and asset-backed businesses



Close Technology & General VCT PLC offers investors the opportunity to
participate in a balanced portfolio of technology and non-technology businesses



Close Brothers was voted VCT Group of the Year in the Growth Company Awards 2003




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange