Notes withdrawal by Winten

Derwent Valley Holdings PLC
12 January 2004



NOT FOR RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA
                                    OR JAPAN

                          DERWENT VALLEY HOLDINGS PLC


Board notes withdrawal by Winten Limited

The Board of Derwent Valley Holdings plc ("Derwent Valley") notes today's
announcement by Winten Limited ("Winten") that it does not intend to proceed
with an offer for Derwent Valley.

This outcome is consistent with the view of the Derwent Valley Board that an
offer at the level suggested in the Winten announcement of 1 December 2003 would
have been wholly inadequate and would not have reflected the value and potential
inherent in Derwent Valley.

John Burns, Managing Director of Derwent Valley, said:

"We are pleased that this period of uncertainty for our shareholders and
employees has come to an end. We can now focus our efforts solely on actively
managing the business to create value for shareholders."

                                                                 12 January 2004


Enquiries:
Derwent Valley                                                Tel: [phone]
John Burns, Managing Director

UBS Investment Bank                                           Tel: [phone]
Tim Guest
Edmund Craston

College Hill                                                  Tel: [phone]
Alex Sandberg
Gareth David



UBS is acting for Derwent Valley in connection with the approach from Winten and
no-one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than Derwent Valley for
providing the protections afforded to clients of UBS or for providing advice in
relation to the approach from Winten.


                          DERWENT VALLEY HOLDINGS PLC

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

Derwent Valley is a highly focused UK listed property company (Reuters: DWV.L,
Bloomberg: DWV LN) specialising in refurbishing and investing in commercial
property in central London.

The West End, where tenant demand is showing signs of recovery, represents
approximately 75% of the investment portfolio. The company has a reputation for
the high quality of its schemes and has won a number of architectural awards.

The group currently has a number of refurbishment and development opportunities
within its portfolio, which together with its existing portfolio, puts Derwent
Valley in a strong position to take advantage of the anticipated recovery in the
central London commercial property market.

Website: www.derwentvalley.co.uk




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