Henry Boot completes major si

RNS Number : 7447A

Boot(Henry) PLC

07 February 2011

HENRY BOOT PLC

('Henry Boot' or 'the Group')

HENRY BOOT COMPLETES MAJOR SITE SALES

The board of Henry Boot announces that the Group has agreed the £33.8m disposal of Ayr Central Shopping Centre and, separately, the sale of optioned land with planning permission for 700 dwellings at Buckingham.

Ayr Central

Henry Boot Developments Limited ('HBD') has completed the sale of Ayr Central Shopping Centre to Sovereign Land and AREA Property Partners for £33.8m before costs, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.25%. Located in the heart of Ayr town centre, the 180,000 sq.ft. shopping centre was developed in 2006 by HBD and is anchored by Debenhams and Primark, with other tenants including H&M, JD Sports, HMV, Clarks and River Island.

Springford & Co and Savills acted for HBD and King Sturge represented Sovereign Land.

Buckingham

Hallam Land Management Limited ('Hallam Land') has completed the sale of optioned land with planning permission for 700 dwellings at Buckingham to Barratt Developments PLC and Bovis Homes Group PLC for an undisclosed sum. This follows the submission, in 2008, of a planning application on the non-allocated site by Hallam Land for the dwellings and 2.5 hectares of employment development. Outline planning consent was secured in late 2009 and the site was marketed in mid 2010, receiving substantial levels of interest. Hallam Land retains its interest in the employment land following the transaction.

Irwin Mitchell and Savills acted for both the landowners and Hallam Land.

Jamie Boot, Group Managing Director of Henry Boot, commented: "The completion of these two transactions will result in the Group moving to a net cash position. These deals were included in management's forecasts for 2011 and confirm that the market for high quality retail assets and green field development sites in good housing locations is reasonably strong. Completing these transactions so early in the period is very pleasing and gives us a strong start to the year."