Acquisition

Schroders PLC
14 December 2006

Schroders to Acquire Aareal Asset Management GmbH



14 December 2006



Schroders plc ('Schroders') announces today that it has reached agreement to
acquire interests representing 99.75 per cent. of the share capital of Aareal
Asset Management GmbH and related companies ('AAM'), a pan-European property
asset manager based in Germany. Under the terms of the agreement, Schroders will
pay €28.0 million (£18.8 million) including €6.0 million (£4.0 million) of net
tangible assets in cash on completion to Aareal Bank AG ('Aareal') the sole
owner of AAM.  Schroders has also agreed to acquire certain investments owned by
Aareal, in the underlying funds managed by AAM that are currently valued at
€21.4 million (£14.4 million), and may acquire further investments managed by
AAM for up to €29.8 million (£20.0 million) in the event that they are not sold
by Aareal prior to 31 March 2007.

With its first fund launched in 1999, AAM has assets under management of €1.9
billion (£1.3 billion), managing seven property funds across European markets.
The Company is headquartered in Wiesbaden with offices in Amsterdam, Milan,
Luxembourg, Stockholm and Paris. The main clients of AAM are insurance groups,
pension funds and government organisations.

AAM will form part of Schroders' property business which currently has £7.6
billion* (€11.3 billion) of assets under management, having grown from just £200
million (€300 million) fifteen years ago. The business has moved from managing a
single fund to offering a range of pooled property vehicles that manage
investments across different sectors and geographies. In the last 12 months,
Schroders has launched two European property funds of funds which provide
investors with diversified exposure to European real estate, and global and
Asian property securities funds.

William Hill, Schroders Head of Property, said, 'This acquisition is an
important component of our strategy to offer international property products to
our client base. What attracted us to AAM was the entrepreneurial nature of its
management, its investment platform in the major European markets and the
excellent fit with our own business.'

Charles Pridgeon, Chief Executive of AAM, said, 'This is good news for AAM and
our clients. With the commitment, resources and distribution strength of one of
the world's leading asset managers, we are now in a great position to expand
further in Europe. Crucially, AAM and Schroders share the same one hundred
percent focus on asset management, and I am excited at the opportunities that
lie ahead as we join forces.'



Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.


Schroders contacts

Henrietta Jowitt               Nik Ekholm                   William Hill

[phone]            [phone]         [phone]






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