Disposal and Acquisition

Great Portland Estates PLC 05 May 2005 Great Portland sells in Drury Lane and buys in Noho Great Portland Estates plc ('GPE') announces the sale of its freehold interest in 55 Drury Lane, London, WC2 to Arlington Property Investors for £16.75 million. The price represents a 22% premium to the book value at 30 September 2004. The property was constructed by GPE in the early 90's and comprises 28,000 sq ft of studio and office space and a number of residential flats let on long leases. The current rent receivable is £950,000 per annum, showing the purchaser a net initial yield of 5.4% after purchase costs. Weighted by rent, the average unexpired lease length is 6.4 years. In a separate transaction GPE announces the acquisition of 60/62 Margaret Street, London W1 from a private vendor for £5.75 million. The 21,600 sq ft office building is vacant and GPE plans to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment delivering a high quality office building during the second half of 2006. Robert Noel, Property Director of GPE said; 'Over the last two years we have actively managed the occupational tenancies at 55 Drury Lane to optimise its capital value and have now taken advantage of the huge investor appetite for this type of asset as we believe we can use the proceeds more profitably elsewhere. At a cost of £266 per sq ft, Margaret Street represents excellent value. There is good demand for high quality refurbished floor plates of this size in the West End with very limited supply. We believe refurbishment will be well timed.' Contacts: Great Portland Estates plc Toby Courtauld Chief Executive 020 7612 1442 Robert Noel Property Director 020 7612 1443 Finsbury Edward Orlebar 020 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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