Securitisation

British Land Co PLC
15 June 2001

For immediate release
15 June 2001



                         The British Land Company PLC
                               ('British Land')

                 Securitisation of 35 Sainsbury supermarkets



Further to the announcement of 29 May, British Land announces the launch of a
£575 million multi-tranche bond offering, securitising the rental income from
35 supermarkets owned by British Land and leased to Sainsbury's Supermarkets
Ltd., with full recourse to J Sainsbury plc ('Sainsbury'). The offering is
being lead managed by UBS Warburg Ltd and is expected to close on 20 June
2001.

The bonds will be issued by Werretown Supermarkets Securitisations PLC, a
newly established special purpose vehicle, with the proceeds being on-lent to
British Land. Interest and capital payments on the issue will be without
recourse to British Land.

Sainsbury, a leading UK food retailer, has been assigned a credit rating of A/
A2/A+ by Standard & Poor's / Moody's Investor Services / Fitch. The
supermarkets, which are predominantly in edge-of-town and out-of-town
locations in England and Wales, had an open market value of £677 million as at
18 May 2001. The leases on these properties have a weighted average expiry
date of April 2025.

There are five tranches of bonds with maturities ranging from 15 to 24 years.
The Class A bonds have been rated AA/AA by Standard & Poor's / Fitch; the
Class B1 and B2 have been rated A/A+, and the Class B3 bonds have been rated A
/A. The weighted average interest rate of the bonds is expected to be 6.8 per
cent., and the weighted average maturity will be 17 years.

The proceeds will be used to refinance existing bank indebtedness, including
the £400 million drawn down in April to finance the repurchase of two British
Land unsecured bond issues, and to provide further working capital for the
Group.

British Land Property Management Limited will act as the property asset
manager of the supermarkets.

Nick Ritblat, Director of British Land, commented:

'The securitisation enables British Land to release 85 per cent. of the value
of the Sainsbury supermarkets, without realising tax liabilities and while
retaining control, ownership and future growth of the assets. This transaction
furthers British Land's strategy of leveraging its portfolio with long-dated
financing at competitive rates of interest.'

This announcement should be read in conjunction with the attached announcement
from Werretown.



The British Land Company PLC     Tel: [phone]
John Weston Smith, Finance Director
Nick Ritblat, Director
Peter Clarke, Head of Asset Management







WERRETOWN SUPERMARKETS SECURITISATIONS PLC

Werretown Supermarkets Securitisations PLC ('Werretown') will issue £575
million of bonds supported by the cash flows from 35 supermarkets owned by
British Land and leased to Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd., with full recourse
to J Sainsbury plc.

Werretown will on-lend the proceeds of the issue to British Land, and will
receive secured and unsecured notes that are obligations of the fully
ring-fenced British Land subsidiaries which own the 35 supermarkets.

UBS Warburg Ltd has structured the offering and is acting as lead manager and
bookrunner for the transaction.

The offering has been structured to comprise issues of medium- and long-dated,
asset-backed, fixed- and floating-rate Sterling denominated eurobonds.
Payments of interest on all tranches, and the principal on certain tranches,
will be made from rental receipts from Sainsbury. A refinancing or sale of the
properties will meet the payments of principal at maturity on the Class B3
bullet and the balloon payment on the Class A2(C).

The Class A bonds have been rated AA/AA by Standard & Poor's / Fitch; the
Class B1 and B2 have been rated A/A+, and the Class B3 bonds have been rated A
/A.

UBS Warburg Ltd.               Tel: [phone]
David Newby
Edmund Craston
Simon Fisk



APPENDIX - Notes to Editors



1.     Details of tranches

The tranches of the offering are set out below.
Classes   Expected  Amortising/ Amount Size as % of total   Average life/
          rating    bullet      (£m)   Notes issued         expected maturity
          (S&P/
          Fitch)
A1 (FRN)  AA/AA     Amort       65.25  11.3                 9 years/2016
A2 (C)    AA/AA     Combined    159.75 27.8                 22 years/2025
(Fixed)

B1 (FRN)  A/A+      Amort       100.00 17.4                 7 years/2016
B2        A/A+      Amort       209.10 36.4                 19 years/2025
(Fixed)
B3        A/A       Bullet      40.90  7.1                  24 years/2025
(Fixed)
                                575.00 100.0



2.     Details of supermarkets

The supermarkets being securitised are primarily in edge-of-town and
out-of-town locations throughout England and Wales.

Area                                Number of stores
East Midlands                       4
London                              7
South East                          3
West Midlands                       6
Yorkshire                           4
South West                          3
Wales                               4
East                                2
North West                          2

TOTAL                               35