Sale of Paris Property

RNS Number : 3025T

Hammerson PLC

03 June 2009

 



For immediate release, 3 June 2009

Sale of Paris Property 

Hammerson plc has completed the sale of its freehold interest in Les Trois Quartiers, a 29,700m2 retail and office building in Paris 1er, for a total consideration of €210 million (£181 million). The purchaser is MGPA Europe Fund III. The proceeds will be used by Hammerson to reduce net debt.

At 31 December 2008, the property was valued at €275 million (£266 million) and had passing rents of €19.8 million (£19.1 million).

John Richards, Chief Executive of Hammerson, said:

'We are pleased to announce the disposal of Les Trois Quartiers. This sale, in conjunction with the previous disposal of Forum Steglitz, will strengthen our balance sheet. Following the sale, Hammerson will have available around  £700 million of unutilised committed bank facilities.' 

Hammerson was advised by Jones Lang LaSalle. Lefèvre Pelletier & Associates was the lawyer, and Etude Wargny Katz, the notaire.

Further information:

John Richards, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Morgan Bone, Director of Corporate Communications	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to editors

• Hammerson plc is a FTSE-100 Real Estate Investment Trust which operates principally in the retail sector in the UK and France. At 31 December 2008, its £6.5 billion portfolio provided 1.4 million m² of retail space, including 15 major shopping centres and 19 retail parks, and 255,000 m² of offices. 

• Hammerson will loan €30 million of the proceeds to SCI QUANTUM, the SPV used by MGPA to acquire the property. Hammerson's loan is secured by a second charge on the property, bears interest at 6.1% and is for a term of two years, extendable at the option of the purchaser for a further two years. 

• Total costs are expected to be in the order of €1.3 million.

• MGPA Europe Fund III is managed by MGPA, the global private equity real estate investment advisory company. 

• The exchange rate used for the sale price and costs is £1 = €1.16, the closing rate on the day preceding the transaction. The exchange rate used for book value is the rate at the end of 2008, (£1 = €1.034). 

 

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