New Investment
Dolphin Capital Investors Limited
20 December 2006
For release 7.00am 20 December 2006
Dolphin Capital Investors Limited ('DCI' or the 'Company')
€24 million commitment in Sitia Bay Golf Resort in Greece
Dolphin Capital Investors, a real estate investment company focused on the
Master-planned Residential Resort sector in Southeast Europe and managed by
Dolphin Capital Partners ('DCP'), is pleased to announce the signing of a new
investment in Sitia Bay Golf Resort, situated on the island of Crete, Greece.
DCI is one of the largest real estate investment companies listed on AIM. It
focuses on early-stage, large scale leisure-integrated residential resorts
mainly in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey. The Company's shares commenced
trading on AIM on 8 December 2005, having raised £70.7 million (€104 million) at
an issue price of 68p, followed by a £202.7 million (€300 million) secondary
offering at a price of 93p per share in October 2006.
Highlights:
• Sitia Bay Golf Resort ('Sitia Bay' or the 'Project') represents DCI's
fifth investment in Greece and will combine residential units, a beach-front
luxury hotel, an 18-hole golf course, a golf clubhouse, a beach & country
club, an 85-berth marina and other leisure facilities.
• The 204-hectare site is only a 10 minute-drive from Sitia Airport on the
island of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands.
• DCI is committing a total of €24 million to fund a staged acquisition of
79.656% of the SPV that owns 94.155% of the Project company and the initial
stages of development expenses. The remaining shares are owned by Greek
Marble Industry Technical & Tourist Company Iktinos Hellas SA ('Iktinos'), a
publicly traded company on the Athens Stock Exchange. Evangelos Chaidas,
President of Iktinos will remain as the Project's appointed development
partner until the permit approval stage.
• The Project is considered to be one of the most advanced residential
resort developments in Crete in terms of permits, having already received
approval of the Environmental Impact Study for the hotel and marina, the
most critical permit in the pre-construction phase. The permitting process
is expected to be concluded in 2008.
Said Pierre Charalambides, Partner of DCP: 'Sitia Bay marks our first investment
in the largest of the Greek islands, the island of Crete, which is of strategic
importance in our sector.'
Further Details:
Sitia Bay Golf Resort represents DCI's first investment in Crete, the most
popular Greek tourist destination with 2.2 million visitors last year and one of
the main beneficiaries of the influx of foreign investments in the real estate
sector that is anticipated over the coming years.
The Project is being designed as a sea-front master-planned, leisure integrated
residential resort aiming for approximately 100,000 m2 of buildable residential
units, a 200-room luxury hotel, a convention centre, an 18-hole championship
golf course, a golf clubhouse, a beach & country club and other leisure
facilities.
The site is situated on a secluded peninsula of unspoilt natural beauty on the
island of Crete. Crete is the largest of the Greek islands with three
international airports in Chania, Heraklion, and Sitia. Sitia Bay is only a 10
minute-drive from Sitia Airport, a 1.5-hour drive east from Heraklion
International Airport and a 15-minute drive from Sitia Harbour.
The Project is considered to be one of the most advanced residential resort
developments in Crete in terms of permits, having already received approval of
the Environmental Impact Study for the hotel and marina, the most critical
permit in the pre-construction phase. The permitting process is expected to be
concluded in 2008.
DCI is acquiring a 79.656% stake in the SPV which owns 94.155% of the Project
company. The remaining shares of the SPV remain in the ownership of Iktinos (the
'Seller'). The Company has agreed to pay in stages subject to permits being in
place within the next two years. A €10 million payment and investment will be
made upfront and a further €5.3 million payment will be made upon the Seller
obtaining all required construction permits. An additional €8 million is
allocated to progress the Project's permitting and early development phases as
well as to acquire additional contiguous land. The total commitment of DCI is
therefore €24 million (inclusive of €0.7 million of transfer taxes and closing
costs payable for the completion of the investment).
For further information, please contact:
Dolphin Capital Partners Limited Tel: +30 210 3614 255
Miltos Kambourides / Pierre Charalambides
miltos@dolphincp.com / pierre@dolphincp.com
Grant Thornton Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100
(Nominated Adviser)
Philip Secrett
Panmure Gordon Tel: +44 (0) 20 7459 3600
(Broker)
Richard Gray / Dominic Morley / Andrew Potts
Adventis Financial PR
Annie Evangeli Tel: +44 (0) 20 7034 4757
Peter Binns Tel: +44 (0) 20 7034 4760
Notes to Editors
Dolphin Capital Partners
DCP is an independent investment management business founded in 2004 by Miltos
Kambourides and Pierre Charalambides after leaving Soros Real Estate Partners.
The DCP professionals combine extensive local knowledge and contacts with
expertise gained at some of the world's leading financial institutions. They
specialise in providing capital to rigorously selected real estate developments
in Southeast Europe by joint venturing with local developers. DCP is using in
every development an international and sophisticated network of operators,
designers, master-planners, marketing agents and financial institutions.
Dolphin Capital Investors
In addition to Sitia Bay, DCI has closed investments in five other projects,
namely Kilada Hills Golf Resort, Scorpio Bay Resort, Apollo Heights Polo Resort,
Amanmila Resort and Lavender Hills Golf Resort, committing a total of €169
million.
DCI's investment objective is to provide shareholders with string capital growth
combined with low risk profile through investing in early-stage sophisticated
leisure-integrated resort developments in South East Europe (principally Greece,
Cyprus, Turkey and Croatia) in partnership with leading developers and
operators.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange