Evans Randall makes Moscow debut with €180m deal

17:09 | 21.12.09

By Lucy Scott

Investment bank and private equity group Evans Randall has completed its first deal in Russia with the purchase of Moscow’s Silver City, a prime office complex for around €180m.

Silver City, which is on the Serebryannicheskaya embankment in Moscow’s Garden Ring East business district, is also the first property Evans Randall has bought in emerging Europe and marks a return to the European market.

The property, bought from investment firm RP Capital, has 41,650 sq m of leasable area and is let to tenants including Siberia Coal and Energy Company, Campbell’s Soup, Canon and Toyota Bank with average lease lengths approaching five years.

Evans Randall said there will be an equity offering for Silver City in the second quarter of 2010, targeting mainly private investors.

Michael Evans, chairman of Evans Randall, said he believed the market for prime property in Moscow was “stabilising” following an increase in tenant take-up and the prospect of rental growth.

“Silver City is our first investment in Moscow and appeals because of the quality of its design and location and its strong tenant line-up,” he added.

Evans Randall was advised by its retained agent CB Richard Ellis which will also remain as facility manager of the complex.

EVANS RANDALL AND AL SALAM BANK BUY PRIME CITY OFFICE INVESTMENT FOR £127 MILLION- Milton Gate purchase heralds joint venture with Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank

Evans Randall, the privately held UK investment banking and private equity group and Al Salam Bank Bahrain, a leading Islamic financial institution, have exchanged contracts with vendor UBS Global Asset Management (UK) for the purchase of Milton Gate, 1 Moor Lane, London EC2, a 200,000 plus sq- ft office investment in the City of London for £127 million. Al Salam Bank’s participation in the transaction was structured to be in compliance with Shariah principles. Evans Randall provided the equity for the acquisition.

Milton Gate is let to leading City law firm Addleshaw Goddard on a lease with 15 years remaining. The acquisition reflects an initial yield of 7.5%. Milton Gate was recently refurbished by UBS in conjunction with Exemplar Properties LLP to create a high-quality, contemporary City headquarters building. It totals seven storeys and has floor plates of 26,500 sq ft.

The property lies within the financial district of the City of London, approximately 300 metres from Broadgate and 700 metres north of the Bank of England. The area has traditionally attracted a range of financial occupiers including JP Morgan Chase and UBS, and professional occupiers such as Slaughter & May and Linklaters.

Michael Evans, Chairman & Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “Milton Gate is a well-let, high-quality asset in a prime City of London location which we are acquiring at a time when the UK market offers selective opportunities for long-term investors with access to equity. With attractive yields and interest rates in the UK at an historic low there are significant benefits to in acquiring this type of asset. We are actively seeking similar opportunities in partnership with Al Salam Bank”

Yousif Taqi, Board Member & Chief Executive of Al Salam Bank, said: “Al Salam Bank is pleased to have worked with Evans Randall on this transaction. It represents the bank’s first investment transaction in the United Kingdom and will enable our clients to benefit from a high yielding product which also capitalises on the favourable market conditions in the City of London real estate sector.”

Mohammed Paracha, Chief Executive of Al Salam Europe, said “The closing of this transaction demonstrates our desire to provide valued clients with differentiated investment opportunities that are structured to take advantage of a low interest rate, undervalued assets. Al Salam Bank’s contribution in the transaction was structured in a Shariah compliant tranche providing high yield returns for its investors. Al Salam Europe looks forward to sourcing more transactions with strong partners such as Evans Randall.”

Following completion of this transaction Evans Randall and Al Salam Bank Bahrain are delighted to announce their intention to make further real estate acquisitions in partnership with one another.

Evans Randall was advised by its retained agent CB Richard Ellis.

In the last four years Evans Randall has become a leading investor in landmark real estate assets in both the UK and Western Europe, having acquired a portfolio of more than £5 billion. Its track record in completing transactions quickly and effectively and its strong banking and equity investor relationships are fundamental to its ability to exploit opportunities offered in the current market.

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD 00 44 (0)207 269 9343 or 0777 551 8585

Annabel Turbutt-Day, FD 0044 (0)207 269 7107

Notes for editors

1. Evans Randall

Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity group specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$35 billion of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial and retail property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

Since 2005, Evans Randall has acquired around £5 billion of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Current assets include:

UK

o 5 Canada Square, Bank of America’s UK headquarters, at Canary Wharf, London E14

o 50% of ‘The Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3

o HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2

o The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf, London E14

o Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow

Continental Europe

o Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart

o ING Bank’s landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague

o De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building in South Axis, Amsterdam

o The Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Munich

2. Al Salam Bank-Bahrain

Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Al Salam Bank-Bahrain (B.S.C.) is a dynamic, diversified and differentiated Islamic bank.

Key factors that contribute to the Bank's distinct market differentiation include:

o Strong paid-up capital base;

o Pre-eminent founding shareholders;

o High-caliber management team;

o State-of-the-art IT infrastructure;

o Universal business model covering deposits, financing and investment services;

o Innovative, tailor-made Shari’a-compliant solutions;

o Firm commitment to corporate and social responsibility

Incorporated on 19 January 2006 in the Kingdom of Bahrain with a paid-up capital of BD 120 million (US$ 318 million), Al Salam Bank-Bahrain (B.S.C.) commenced commercial operations on 17 April 2006. The Bank operates under Islamic principles in accordance with regulatory requirements for Islamic banks set by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

The Bank's Initial Public Offering, comprising 35 per cent of the paid-up capital, raised over BD 2.7 billion (US$ 7 billion) and was the largest IPO in the Kingdom's history. Al Salam Bank-Bahrain was listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange on 27 April 2006, and subsequently on the Dubai Financial Market on 26 March 2008.

Evans Randall and National Bank of Abu Dhabi Sign Memorandum of Understanding To Provide Mezzanine Investments In European Real Estate

London, 16th December, 2008:

Evans Randall, the London-based investment banking and private equity group specialising in alternative assets, and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), The Number One Bank in the UAE, have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture to provide mezzanine investments in European real estate.

The joint venture, which will have a target size of US$500 million (AED 1.84 Billion), will focus on the UK and German markets, and will seek to capitalise on the growing gap in the capital structure of property investments between senior debt and common equity. Michael Evans, Chairman & Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said “With increased conservatism on the part of banks in the short to medium term, and the longer term shift in regulatory capital aspects of such investments, ongoing opportunities are available for investors able to originate and provide such financing.” The joint venture will aim to pay annual cash returns between 8%-12% to investors with projected IRRs of 15%-20%.

 “With Evans Randall as an active property investor and borrower in the European real estate market, the joint venture will have considerable knowledge of what other borrowers require which, when combined with the undoubted skills and excellent reputation of the execution team, will be a strong competitive advantage,” said Mr. Akram Mark Yassin, Senior General Manager of NBAD’s Corporate & Investment Banking Division. He added, “The entrepreneurial approach which will form the basis of the joint venture will be a huge advantage. With the strong relationships Evans Randall has built over time, we anticipate numerous attractive opportunities that the joint venture will be able to take advantage of.”

The joint venture will leverage off the strong position that both partners have in their respective markets, with NBAD acknowledged as a leading bank in the UAE and GCC markets and Evans Randall a respected and experienced sponsor and investor in the European real estate market. With this background, the joint venture will be extremely well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to deliver sustainable and attractive returns to investors.

Michael Evans said, “The combination of NBAD’s market leading presence and our experience in both the structured finance and commercial property arenas will leave us extremely well placed to deliver value to investors.” Andrew Haines, Managing Director of Evans Randall Capital Partners, added “We are delighted to have established this joint venture with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Together, we will have significant firepower to take advantage of the increasing number of mezzanine opportunities we are seeing in the European real estate market.”

The joint venture strategy aligns closely with NBAD’s position as a first choice provider of sophisticated and tailor-made investment solutions. Mr. Akram Mark Yassin said “This joint venture promotes our strategy of providing our investor base access to innovative and diversified investment products to complement their existing investment portfolios.  It also provides NBAD access to an attractive and fast-growing sector of the European real estate market.”

In the last four years Evans Randall has become a leading investor in prime landmark real estate assets in both the UK and Western Europe, having acquired a portfolio in excess of US$8 billion.  Its recognised track record in completing transactions quickly and effectively is fundamental to its credibility in the mezzanine and preferred equity markets and a core part of the joint venture’s offering.

-End-

Editors’ notes

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, Financial Dynamics (FD)                +44 207 269 9343

About Evans Randall  

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity group specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$35 billion of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial and retail property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall has acquired around £5 billion of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of Condor House at 4-15 St Paul’s Churchyard, EC4 for £115 million

·         Acquisition of 5 Canada Square, Bank of America’s UK headquarters, for £452 million

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building in South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €219 million landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·        The €270 million purchase of the Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Munich

About NBAD

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), The Number One Bank in the UAE, was incorporated in 1968. NBAD has a network of 80 branches in the UAE in addition to Cash offices that are spread out at remote locations to provide banking services to customers stationed at offshore oil operations and in desert locations as well as other government organizations. NBAD also has three Shift offices inside the security areas of the Abu Dhabi International Airport providing currency & traveler’s cheques exchange services.  The branch network is widened further with 223 ATMs through which customers perform a variety of transactions.

Besides brick & mortar branches, NBAD provides 24 hour internet banking accessibility through NbadOnline and NbadDirect, as well as account access and personalized customer support through the 24-hour Call Centre.

NBAD’s overseas network stretches from Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain in the G.C.C., Egypt, Libya, and Sudan in Africa, London, Paris, and Geneva in Europe to Washington D.C. in the U.S.A.

The bank provides its customer with a wide variety of financial services targeted at all segments of the retail and corporate market in addition to Fund Management, Brokerage, Leasing, Property Management businesses and Private Banking.

NBAD is rated senior long term/short term A+/A-1 by Standard and Poor’s, Aa3/P1 by Moodys and AA-/F1+ by Fitch giving one of the strongest combined rating of any Middle Eastern financial institution.

NBAD is an award winning leader in the UAE and GCC financial services industry. Awards won by the bank include the Middle East Excellence Award 2008, the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2007, the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award, Dubai Quality Award, ‘Best Bank in UAE’ from Euromoney and Banker publications, ‘Human Resources Development Award’ from the Emirates Institute for Banking & Financial Studies, the ‘Middle East e-Banking Country Award’, the ‘Outstanding use of IT in Financial Services Award, and excellence award for ‘Best use of Technology’ from Banker Middle East.

Evans Randall to form mezzanine and preferred equity fund with ex Capmark team, headed by Andrew Haines and Sam Mellor.

Evans Randall, the privately held investment banking and private equity group, is establishing a new £500 (€625) million mezzanine and preferred equity fund to target leveraged property transactions and B note holders in the UK, Europe, the Gulf States and Asia. To be known as Evans Randall Capital Partners LLP the newly formed entity will be part of the Evans Randall Group.

Evans Randall has reached agreement with the ex Capmark team, headed by Andrew Haines, Managing Director, and Sam Mellor, Managing Director, Duncan Elley, Associate Director, Leon Sodeyfi, Associate and Sarah-Kay Ritchie, Executive Assistant, for the whole team to join in setting up this exciting venture. The team has completed over two hundred transactions in the last three years and enjoys a very strong position in the market.

Michael Evans, Chairman & Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “As an active property investor and borrower ourselves, we have considerable knowledge of what other borrowers require, and when combined with the undoubted skills and excellent reputation of the ex Capmark team, headed by Andrew and Sam, we believe that we will have a strong competitive advantage. The team has a very similar entrepreneurial approach to business to that which we have at Evans Randall and I believe that this will be a huge advantage to us”

The group will focus on the UK, Europe, the Gulf and the Far East markets through separate funds and will enable commercial property investors and developers to reduce or release equity to invest in other projects. It will also focus on the restructuring of B note holders’ investments and will be targeting returns after fees of between 15% per annum and 16% per annum for itself and the funds’ co-investors.

In the last three years Evans Randall has become a leading investor in prime landmark real estate assets in both the UK and Western Europe, having acquired a portfolio of circa £5.5 billion (US$11 billion).  Its recognised track record in completing transactions quickly and effectively is fundamental to its credibility in the mezzanine and preferred equity markets, where borrowers may be under time pressure having been let down by lenders who were unable to meet pre-agreed timelines and terms.  

The group’s flat management structure – whereby just five individuals Andrew Haines, Sam Mellor, Michael Evans, Paul Kendrick and Kent Gardner make investment decisions in respect of mezzanine and preferred equity transactions – will enable it to move quickly to capitalise on opportunities in this growing market.

In addition to real estate investment, Evans Randall has arranged and invested in some US$30 billion of structured finance transactions around the world. With its banking, tax and commercial skills, honed on a multi-jurisdictional model, the group believes it can bring significant “closing ability” to the mezzanine and structured debt markets.

With significant experience and expertise in the structured finance, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and commercial property investment markets, Evans Randall believes it is now uniquely placed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that exist in the mezzanine, preferred equity and equity markets.The US market has far more such funds than the UK and Europe but Evans Randall is aiming to bring its own edge to what it provides and to continue to enhance the excellent reputation that it has developed for “getting deals done” in the investment market.

Michael Evans, Chairman & Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “While there are particular opportunities in the current market, due to the credit crunch, we believe that this mezzanine / preferred equity market will continue to grow as banks hold back from offering the level of gearing that they were previously able and willing to provide. This will enable us to maximise our advantage in the short to medium term and to grow the business over time even as more leverage returns to the market. Capital Adequacy constraints will continue to make it difficult for banks to participate in this market as much as they have done in the past and we certainly expect to be able to make a significant impact. With strong relationships built over time we anticipate seeing many attractive opportunities that we and our co-investors will be able to take advantage of”.

Andrew Haines, Managing Director of Evans Randall Capital Partners LLP said “We are delighted to be joining an investment banking group with a proven track record and reputation of the highest quality in real estate.  Evans Randall’s equity and property knowledge combined with our debt and capital markets experience will enable us to rapidly take advantage of the current opportunities in the mezzanine and preferred equity market.“

Evans Randall Capital Partners LLP will operate out of Evans Randall’s main office at 33 St. James’s Square, St James’s, LONDON SW1Y  4JS

END

EVANS RANDALL CLOSES €1BN JOINT VENTURE WITH BANK OF SCOTLAND

FOR EUROPEAN PROPERTY FUND

 
Evans Randall, the UK investment banking and private equity group, has concluded a €1 billion, 50:50 joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to further expand its Luxembourg-based European Property Fund. 

The Fund currently owns three properties: the building known as The Rock at South Axis, Amsterdam, a striking 29,000 sq m development with a 10 year pre-let to prominent Dutch law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V.; the Telekom Centre Munich, a 69,000 sq m cluster of six towers let for a 12 year period to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG; and the newly completed 70,000 sq m Covent Garden office complex in Brussels, with 15 year anchor tenancy to the European Commission. The fund has an average net acquisition yield exceeding 5%.

Evans Randall and Bank of Scotland intend to acquire further high quality well-let commercial property assets in Western Europe before the European Property Fund is fully invested to a target value of €1 billion. The Fund is targeting an IRR for investors of 15-20%. 

As well as subscribing for 50% of the equity in the Fund, Bank of Scotland will provide senior and junior debt funding. The Fund will also have the flexibility to raise debt funding, for specific properties, from other sources.  

 Paul Kendrick, Managing Director of Evans Randall, said: “The joint venture demonstrates that despite difficult conditions in the credit markets, funding remains available for the right investments.  Our strong relationship with Bank of Scotland is key factor in the ongoing success of the Evans Randall business.”

 Evans Randall is upbeat about the continued existence of opportunities in both the UK and European markets. 

Kent Gardner, Managing Director of Evans Randall, said: “We are continuing to pursue our strategy of concentrating on premium commercial real estate which is well located and let to strong tenants on long leases.  We feel that such a strategy offers both short-term security and long-term growth.  The present market is offering some interesting opportunities to acquire such assets at attractive prices.  We are seeking to benefit from this situation, notably with the establishment of this European Property Fund and the recent formation of a UK opportunity fund which has been acquiring assets in Central London.”

Derek McDonald, Head of Joint Ventures (Real Estate), Bank of Scotland, said "We are delighted to further reinforce our relationship with Evans Randall through the creation of the European Property Fund JV.  Evans Randall are a highly regarded partner of the Bank and this joint venture will enable them to pursue their growth strategy."

Michael Evans, Chairman & Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “Evans Randall greatly values its relationship with Bank of Scotland and this new joint venture recognises that. Strong, ongoing banking relationships have been fundamental to the development of our business model and we look forward to continuing this with Bank of Scotland and our other key relationship banks, such as HSH Nordbank, in the principle areas in which we invest. As we expand our areas of operation around the world these relationships will take on even more significance.  

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity group specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$35 billion of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial and retail property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £5 billion ($10 billion) of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of Condor House at 4-15 St Paul’s Churchyard, EC4 for £115 million

·         A landmark building situated at 4-15 St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4

·         Acquisition of 5 Canada Square, Bank of America’s UK headquarters, for £452 million

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building in South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €219 million landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·         The €270 million purchase of the Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Munich

EVANS RANDALL OPPORTUNITY FUND EXPANDS PORTFOLIO WITH TWO FURTHER PURCHASES

- £1 billion fund continues to target UK market opportunities -  

 Evans Randall, the UK investment banking and private equity group, has confirmed the second and third acquisitions of its £1bn opportunity fund, launched in January. The opportunity fund is designed specifically to take advantage of a short-term yield shift in the market that has seen certain property owners seek to liquidate assets in response to redemptions by their investors, or because of other liquidity issues.

The fund has purchased Commerzbank’s headquarters on 60 Gracechurch Street in the City of London and 10 Old Burlington Street in Mayfair, Evans Randall’s first investment in London’s West End.

60 Gracechurch Street, EC3, was acquired from New Star Asset Management for £127.5 million, having been acquired by New Star in the fourth quarter of 2006 for c £146 million. As a landmark building comprising 120,000 sq ft of offices and 4,500 sq ft of retail space, it complements Evans Randall’s ongoing strategy of trophy building acquisitions. The property is currently securely let until September 2018 to Commerzbank and Boots the Chemist. The deal reflects a yield of c.5.7%.

10 Old Burlingon Street in Mayfair, W1, was bought for £48.5 million from Standard Life. The 40,500 sq ft building is occupied by a number of high quality businesses including Goodman, MKM Longboat Capital Advisors, Davidson Kempner European Partners and Nevsky Capital. The purchase price reflects an initial yield of 5.7%.

These latest acquisitions follow the Fund’s first purchase, Condor House, St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4, for £115m, announced in early January.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “The calibre of the fund’s  second and third purchases are indicative of further acquisitions planned for the coming months.  We are now in an extremely strong position to take full advantage of the current market to acquire top quality buildings at attractive prices.  

As owners seek to liquidate their assets we will take the opportunity to acquire high quality properties at realistic yields.  We have completed all three individual transactions within a tight timescale of 10 days – start to finish. This approach gives vendors confidence and certainty that we will conclude an investment quickly and effectively”.

PRIVATE INVESTORS BENEFIT FROM EVANS RANDALL REFINANCING

OF MAJOR UK REAL ESTATE ASSET

24% return to investors endorses group strategy as acquisitions continue.

Evans Randall, the St James’s based investment banking and private equity group, has delivered an attractive cash benefit to its co-investors following the refinancing of one of its key UK property assets.

The group has returned c 24% of investors’ original equity investment in Cisco Systems headquarters, at Bedfont Lakes, near Heathrow following a £153 million refinancing deal with German bank, HSH Nordbank. This has occurred less than twenty months from the date of the initial investment. Under the refinancing, investors receive a repayment of a substantial proportion of their funds invested, but will continue to own the same proportion of the asset that was the case prior to the refinancing. This should achieve a, substantially, higher cash on cash return and IRR going forward than would have been the case prior to the refinancing.

The return delivered by this transaction further endorses Evans Randall’s strategy, since entering the European real estate market some three years ago, of identifying opportunities for value growth from high quality, well located, underlet, commercial property assets let to first class tenants on leases with fixed, highly predictable, or indexed uplifts.  

Michael Evans, Chairman and Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:

“This refinancing gives us the opportunity to deliver very impressive cash benefits to our co-our investors within a relatively short timescale, and was achieved during a significant downturn in the UK commercial real estate market.

“We continue our ongoing acquisition programme, with our recently launched ‘£1 billion Opportunities Fund’ focusing on high quality London assets. By the end of this week the fund is expected to have acquired some £300 million of assets since its inception in January 2008. We have also established a ‘European Properties Fund’, which currently holds three prime assets, located in Amsterdam, Brussels and Munich, with a total acquisition cost of c €700 million.”

Evans Randall continues to expand its £4.5 billion commercial real estate portfolio through the ongoing acquisition of ‘trophy’ real estate assets in Europe’s established business and financial centres. Other key UK assets held by Evans Randall include Condor House, St Paul’s, EC4, Bank of America’s EMEA headquarters at 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf; the landmark ‘Gherkin’ at 30 St Mary Axe; ‘Riverbank House’, Man Group’s new London headquarters, which is being developed in London EC4; the HBOS London headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2; and the Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf.

 In mainland Europe Evans Randall’s portfolio of key assets currently stands at c €1.5 billion spread across the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Further investments are planned in France and Luxembourg.

Evans Randall is advised by CB Richard Ellis, the leading real estate adviser.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Notes to Editors:

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned, investment banking and private equity firm specializing in investing in commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the group has arranged or invested in over US$32bn of transactions.

2.      Evans Randall sources, invests in, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £4.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions have included:

·         “Condor House”, adjacent to St Paul’s Cathedral acquired in January 2008 for £115 million.  This was the first property to be acquired by Evans Randall’s newly formed £1 billion Opportunity Fund.

·         “Covent Garden”, a new development in the Centre of Brussels, acquired  in October 2007 for €270 million and part-let to the European Commission

·         Bank of America’s UK headquarters at 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, acquired in July 2007 for £452 million

·         Deutsche Telekom’s headquarters in Munich, Germany acquired in July 2007 for €270 million

·         De Brauw Blackstone, Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam, acquired in June 2007 for €170 million.

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, being developed on Swan Lane, London EC4, acquired in June 2007 for £300 million

·         ‘The Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3, acquired in February 2007  for £615 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow, acquired in July 2006 for £162 million.

·         HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2, acquired in June 2006 for £197 million.

·         The Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart acquired in October 2006 at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague, Netherlands acquired in March 2006.

·         The Financial Services Headquarters, at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, acquired in December 2005 for £191 million.

EVANS RANDALL OPPORTUNITY FUND SWOOPS ON

CONDOR HOUSE, EC4

- £1 billion fund set to target credit crunch opportunities - 

Evans Randall, the UK investment banking and private equity group, confirmed this week the formation of a major new opportunity fund, held 50:50 with Bank of Scotland, to acquire up to £1billion of real estate assets.  The fund, which has already completed its first deal – the [£115 million] acquisition of Condor House in the City of London – is designed specifically to take advantage of  what is perceived as a relatively short-term yield shift in the market, as some funds seek to liquidate assets in response to redemptions by their investors.

Condor House is a building situated at 4-15 St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4, which complements Evans Randall’s ongoingacquisition strategy. It comprises some 10,200 sq m (110,000 sq ft) of prestigious office accommodation.  The building is let to a number of prominent institutions including banking group, Barclays Capital and law firms Morgan Lewis & Brockius and Shepherd & Wedderburn.  With the property producing an annual income in the region of £X, the purchase price of £115 million reflects a net initial yield of approximately 5.3%.

 
Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “We are very pleased to be up-and-running with this fund, and are delighted to have been able to acquire an asset of the calibre of Condor House on such good terms.  The formation of the fund puts us in an extremely strong position to take full advantage of the opportunities which we believe we will see in the market over the next 6 – 9 months.  We will be directly targeting sales of high quality buildings, where the owners are seeking to liquidate their assets, before yields start to shift back to the levels that we have become used to.  We don’t believe that this window of opportunity will be open for too long: it was key, therefore, that Bank of Scotland was able to move so quickly in helping us to establish this fund.”

Michael Evans added, “For the moment, the fund will focus predominantly on the UK market, where we perceive the opportunities to be the greatest: already, we have seen an outward shift on yields here of some 50-75 basis points where there is a need for the vendor to sell properties quickly.  However, if we see similar movements across markets overseas, we will adapt accordingly.”

Evans Randall was advised on its acquisition of Condor House by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis. Its legal advisors were SJ Berwin.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity group specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$35 billion of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial and retail property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £4 billion of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of 5 Canada Square, Bank of America’s UK headquarters, for £452 million

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building in South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €219 million landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·         The €270 million purchase of the Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Munich

EVANS RANDALL BUYS BRUSSELS OFFICES FOR €272 MILLION

- European acquisitions hit €1.3 billion as latest purchase completes -

Evans Randall, the UK investment banking and private equity group, has acquired a prime office development in Brussels known as Covent Garden for €272 million, as part of its ongoing programme of trophy building acquisitions. The purchase means that the group has now significantly exceeded its initial target to acquire €1 billion of real estate assets in mainland Europe.

The 72,000 sq m (770,000 sq ft) development comprises two buildings linked by a central atrium. Building A has 14,340 sq m (154,000 sq ft) of office space over 9 storeys and is pre-let to the European Commission on a 15-year usufruct* occupational agreement. Building B, a 26-storey tower, is nearing completion and will provide 56,000 sq m (603,000 sq ft) of office space. The development also contains retail space.

Evans Randall acquired Covent Garden by purchasing 100% of the share capital of Immobilière du Royal Rogier SA, which developed the scheme. Immobilière du Royal Rogier SA is a 50:50 joint venture between Covent Garden Real Estate SA (jointly owned by KBC Bank and developer Buelens) and SETI SA, the Swiss private bank.

The acquisition reflects a yield over 5.4% on the entire building. The development is expected to have a total value of €300 million when fully let.

Evans Randall was advised on its acquisition of Covent Garden by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, says: “Having achieved our target of acquiring at least €1 billion of real estate in mainland Europe’s main business centres, we continue to look on a very selective basis for major new assets. These must fulfil our criteria of being high quality, well-located and either fully or partially let to first rate occupiers.”

Michael Evans added: “While the credit crunch may be having an impact on confidence in some quarters, this does not in itself affect the underlying fundamentals of real estate markets across Europe. Good prospects for strong returns remain, particularly for quality assets. We believe that the crunch will create new opportunities for value-seeking investors.”

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis 020 7269 9343

Editors’ notes

* A usufruct is an occupational agreement used in the Belgian real estate market which gives the occupier freehold-style rights for the duration of the agreement.

Evans Randall

1. Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity group specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since its formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$35 billion of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2. In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial and retail property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3. Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £4 billion of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

• Acquisition of 5 Canada Square, Bank of America’s UK headquarters, for £452 million
• Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million
• Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million
• De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building in South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million
• HBOS’s headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million
• Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million
• The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m
• ING Bank’s €219 million landmark building at Haagse Poort, The Hague, Netherlands
• St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million
• Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million
• The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for £205 million
• The €270 million purchase of the Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Munich

EVANS RANDALL SPENDS €175 MILLION ON GERMAN RETAIL OUTLETS

Evans Randall acquires 58 retail outlets across Northern Germany

Evans Randall Europe, part of London-based investment banking and private equity firm Evans Randall, has acquired a portfolio of 58 retail outlets spread across Germany for €175 million, at a net initial yield of close to 7.3%. The principal tenants are Aldi, Lidl and Edeka, three of the largest food retailers in Germany.

This transaction was completed by Evans Randall Europe, which focuses on retail opportunities on the continent. It is Evans Randall’s second significant retail investment in Germany, having acquired the Konigsbau Passagen Shopping Centre in Stuttgart for €220 million in October 2006.

Robert Kanerick, Managing Director of Evans Randall Europe, commented: "Evans Randall Europe is actively seeking to expand its retail portfolio in Germany further".

Aldi and Lidl between them have circa 69% of the German discount food market with more than 7,500 stores and a combined turnover of more than €55 billion. Edeka is the largest food retailer in Germany with a market share across the food sector of 26%. The properties are let on occupational leases indexed to the Consumer Price Index and are located across Northern Germany.

In relation to this transaction Evans Randall was advised by Angermann Goddard & Loyd on the investment and Evans Randall’s legal advisers were Clifford Chance.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis

020 7269 9343

0777 551 8587

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$30bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £3.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million.

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million.

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million.

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·         ABN AMRO’s London headquarters for £194 million

·         3M’s UK headquarters for £72.2 million.

EVANS RANDALL SELLS 3M’S EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS AT AMEN CORNER, BRACKNELL TO PRUPIM FOR £92.15 MILLION

Evans Randall, the St James’s based investment banking and private equity firm, has sold the freehold of Amen Corner, Bracknell to PRUPIM for the M&G Secured Property Income Fund for £92.15 million, providing an initial yield of 4.3%. The building was completed in 2003 and comprises two inter-linked high specification office buildings totalling 184,330 sq ft of floor space with scope for further expansion. 

The property is let to 3M United Kingdom PLC and guaranteed by the US parent company for a further 17.75 years on a full repairing and insuring basis.  The contracted rent of this building is more than £4 million per annum and is subject to a fixed uplift to approximately £4.7 million in March 2008 which would bring the running yield up to 5%. Following this, the rent will be subject to a combination of RPI and Open Market Value rent reviews (above guaranteed minimum uplifts) at 5 yearly intervals.

Michael Evans, Chairman and Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:

“From our perspective and that of our co-investors, we believe now is the optimum time to realise a significant return from our earlier investment in the 3M building. While we believe there to be further growth potential in the asset, we will in future be concentrating our investment activity on much larger trophy assets in Europe’s leading centres.”

Steffan Francis, PRUPIM’s Head of Institutional Funds, said:

“We are very pleased to have secured this property off-market for the newly launched M&G Secured Property Income Fund, which invests in UK commercial property with fixed or inflation-linked rental uplifts. The size and scale of our real estate investment activity often enables us to assess and agree opportunities quickly. In this case, we have been able to secure another property for the Fund that not only has a steadily growing long-term income stream backed by a very strong covenant, but also has the potential for further development.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis

020 7269 9343

0777 551 8587

Natalie Brooke, PRUPIM

020 7548 6976

07766 726 722

Editors’ notes

PRUPIM

PRUPIM is a top 10 global real estate investment manager* and a top three European investor**. PRUPIM has over £19 billion invested in a broad spread of properties across Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region (as at 31/12/06 and is part of M&G, the investment arm of Prudential plc in the UK and Europe.

The M&G Secured Property Income Fund is only available to UK institutional investors through Prudential M&G.

*Source: Banker, April 2007.

** Source: Europroperty, May 2007.

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$30bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £3.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million. 

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million.

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million 

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m 

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million.

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

23 July 2007

EVANS RANDALL ACQUIRES 5 CANADA SQUARE, CANARY WHARF FOR £452 MILLION WITHIN 10 DAYS

Purchase from Royal Bank of Scotland is the largest single investment Evans Randall has made in the UK

Evans Randall, the St James’s based investment banking and private equity firm, has acquired the freehold of 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 from Royal Bank of Scotland for £452 million. The 14 storey building, constructed in 2002, comprises over 515,000 sq ft of office space with basement parking for 92 vehicles. This purchase reflects an initial yield of circa 4.4 per cent.  

The property is let to Credit Suisse International on a 25 year lease (expiring October 2027) with 10 of the 14 floors being sublet to Bank of America. The annual rent for the building is £19.7 million equating to around £38.00 per square foot. This is subject to an upwards only rent review on 4^th October 2007 and each fifth anniversary thereafter. With similar buildings in the area commanding rents of circa £47 a square foot, the investment is highly reversionary.

Michael Evans, Chairman and Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:

“As the single largest investment we have made in the UK real estate market, 5 Canada Square fits perfectly with our strategy of acquiring trophy buildings in Europe’s main financial centres at rentals that are highly reversionary.”

Full debt facilities were provided by Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking and Evans Randall were advised by their retained real estate advisors CBRE. Furthermore, Clifford Chance represented Evans Randall in the acquisition and Lazard & Co, SJ Berwin and Allen & Overy were advisors to Royal Bank of Scotland.

Having been awarded exclusivity on this investment, Evans Randall were able to complete the transaction within 10 working days. This follows the trend of other short timescale acquisitions by Evans Randall such as the purchases of 3M’s headquarters in Bracknell, the Financial Services Authority headquarters in Canary Wharf, and ABN AMRO’s UK headquarters at Bishopsgate in London, EC2.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis

020 7269 9343

0777 551 8587

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$30bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £3.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million.

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million.

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million.

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·         ABN AMRO’s London headquarters for £194 million

·         3M’s UK headquarters for £75 million.

 EVANS RANDALL SWOOPS ON MUNICH OFFICES

Investment banking group close to €1bn goal of mainland European assets

Another major step in building its €1bn property portfolio across mainland Europe was taken this week, as Evans Randall, the UK investment banking group, completed on the €259 million purchase of the Telekom Center in Munich at a net yield of around 4.9%.  This brings the total funds invested in mainland Europe by Evans Randall to more than €850 million, and puts the group well on its way to achieving its €1 billion goal. 

Totalling 69,000 sq m (more than 742,000 sq ft ), the Telekom Center in Munich comprises five, fifteen-storey double towers, together with a six-storey, circular building known as The Rotunda.  The tower blocks are interconnected by covered glass footbridges at the first and fourteenth floors, and by open, servicing bridges on the sixth and tenth floors.  Both the towers and The Rotunda have two additional basement levels.

Let to GMG Generalmietgesellschaft mbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, rated A by Standard & Poors, with more than ten years unexpired on the lease, the investment has been acquired on an equivalent basis to a UK freehold. The vendor was an undisclosed real estate investment company.

Evans Randall was advised in its acquisition of the Telekom Center by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis.

The Telekom Center scheme is situated on the outskirts of Munich city centre, at the intersection of the two city districts known as Berg am Laim and Haidhausen – an area which is currently showing major potential growth, with average rents currently lower than other locations a similar distance from Munich’s central business area.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “Following just a few weeks after our investment in development of the Van Egeraat building in Amsterdam, for €165 million, this purchase in Munich demonstrates our commitment to building a property portfolio of unrivalled quality across mainland Europe.  We are now well on the way to achieving our €1 billion goal, with over €850 million of funds now committed to the region, and we will continue to target Germany, the Netherlands Belgium and France over the coming months.  We expect to make further announcements shortly.“

The acquisition forms part of Evans Randall’s ongoing investment programme throughout Europe and brings total acquisitions by the group – in the UK and overseas - to around £2.7 billion in less than two years.  Other major acquisitions which the group has made in mainland Europe include the recently developed €220 million Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart, and ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Notes to Editors:

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking and private equity firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$32bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £2.7bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million..

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million.

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million.

·         The Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf for

£205 million

·         ABN AMRO’s London headquarters for £194 million

·         3M’s UK headquarters for £75 million.

PRIVATE INVESTORS PROFIT FROM EVANS RANDALL REFINANCING

AND SALE OF MAJOR UK REAL ESTATE ASSETS

Returns to investors endorse group strategy as acquisitions continue

Evans Randall, the St James’s based investment banking and private equity group, has delivered substantial profits for its private investor clients following the refinancing of one of its key London property assets and the sale of a further property in the UK.

The group is to return 60% of investors original equity investment in the Financial Services Authority headquarters at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14, following a £205m refinancing deal with Credit Suisse. This has occurred less than fifteen months since investments were made. Under the refinancing, investors receive a repayment of a substantial proportion of their funds invested, but will continue to own the same proportion of the asset that was the case prior to the refinancing. This should achieve a significantly higher cash on cash return and IRR going forward than would have been the case prior to the refinancing.

In a separate transaction, Evans Randall has also sold ABN AMRO’s London headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2, which it bought for an all in cost of £194M in July 2005, to a fund managed by Prudential for an undisclosed sum. The sale will achieve a gross profit of c40% for investors, which represents an IRR of c35% since the investment was made

The returns delivered by these two transactions endorse Evans Randall’s strategy since entering the European real estate market two years ago of identifying opportunities for value growth from high quality, well located, underlet, commercial property assets let to first class tenants on leases with fixed, highly predictable or indexed, uplifts.   

 Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:

 “These two transactions give us the opportunity to deliver very impressive returns to ourselves and our co-our investors within a relatively short timescale, following a period of significant growth in the prime London market.

“We see this growth continuing for high quality well-let assets and we will continue our ongoing acquisition programme both in the UK and in the key financial centres of mainland Europe. The FSA headquarters at North Colonnade remains in our portfolio and we are expecting further growth from this investment in future. This building was acquired at a capitalised figure of £205m and CBRE have revalued the asset at c£234m, an increase in value of nearly £30m”

Evans Randall continues to expand its £2.7 billion portfolio through the ongoing acquisition of ‘trophy’ real estate assets in Europe’s established business and financial locations. Its most recent acquisition, in April this year, is the €170 million Van Egeraat office development in Amsterdam’s South Axis area, which is pre-let to leading Dutch law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek NV (DBBW).

Evans Randall’s other assets include the landmark ‘the Gherkin’ at 30 St Mary Axe, acquired in February 2007, ‘Riverbank House’, Man Group’s new London headquarters, in to be developed in EC4, on which terms have just been agreed, the HBOS London headquarters at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2, acquired in mid 2006, Cisco’s European headquarters at Bedfont Lakes, near Heathrow, also acquired in mid 2006, and the newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart, acquired in October 2006..

Evans Randall is advised by CB Richard Ellis, the leading real estate adviser.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Notes to Editors:

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$32bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      Since 2005, Evans Randall acquired around £2.7bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

Major transactions included:

·         Acquisition of ‘the Gherkin’, Swiss Re’s headquarters building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 for £615 million..

·         Man Group’s new headquarters building, to be developed on Swan Lane, London EC4 for £300 million.

·         De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s new headquarters building at South Axis, Amsterdam for €170 million

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £162 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         St James’s Place Capital’s new headquarters building for £17 million

·         Five UK Government Fire Control Centres for a total sum of £125 million.

Evans Randall funds Riverbank House

Evans Randall, the St. James’s based investment banking and private equity group, has today confirmed its agreement with Pace Investments (City) Limited and the City of London Corporation to forward fund the landmark City of London redevelopment at Riverbank House, Swan Lane, London EC4 for approximately £300 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.42%.

Riverbank House is pre-let in its entirety to Man Group Plc on a 25-year lease at a rent equating to £45 per sq ft (£484 per sq m).  It will comprise c. 320,000 sq ft (29,449 sq m) office accommodation and is due for completion in 2009.  The forward fund agreement is under a 155 year lease (with a right to extend for a further 50 years).  The net initial yield takes into account the ground rent payable to the City of London Corporation, as freeholder.

Johnny Vincent, Managing Director of Pace commented “Pace are very pleased to have worked with the City of London Corporation on this important project and believe that the David Walker designed scheme will form a key part in the regeneration of this prime riverside location. Riverbank House is an excellent scheme designed to ensure the continued success of Man Group Plc in the City of London and we are delighted to have agreed the forward funding with Evans Randall.

Speaking about the forward funding transaction, Michael Evans, Chairman and Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:  “We are delighted to have been able to become involved with such a prestigious development, in the heart of the City of London. With a rent that was agreed almost two years ago, we see this as a highly reversionary asset with good growth potential in the short, medium and long term.   This acquisition fits well with our strategy of acquiring exceptional assets let to strong tenants in Europe’s main financial centres.

“We are very pleased that we were able to agree an off market transaction with Pace Investments and the City of London Corporation and all parties adopted a constructive and pragmatic approach to the investment that enabled us to conclude a financing that worked well for all parties.”

CB Richard Ellis is retained by Evans Randall and represented them in the forward funding transaction at Riverbank House.  Savills acted for Pace investments, while Morgan Pepper advised the City of London Corporation. HSH Nordbank provided funding for Evans Randall.

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                             Tel: 020 7269 9343/0777 551 8587

Simon Tate, Savills                                                   Tel: 020 7409 8945

Fiona Milligan, Press Office, City of London                Tel: 020 7332 3451

Lachlan Johnston, Merlin PR for Man Group plc:         Tel: 020 7653 6620

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$32bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.  In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.  During 2005 and 2006, Evans Randall acquired around £2.7bn of UK property investments on behalf of itself and clients.

David Walker of David Walker Architects was responsible; whilst at Swanke Hayden Connell for the design of the new London based headquarters for Merrill Lynch at Newgate Street, EC1 and Deutsche Bank at London Wall, EC2. EPR have been appointed as executive architects.

Pace Investments Limited was established in 1996 and has undertaken over 60 commercial and residential development projects. Its commercial property activities are almost exclusively in the office sector, located throughout the South East and the City of London. Pace maintains an investment portfolio and has a development pipeline with a value in excess of £400 million.

Man Group plc is a leading global provider of alternative investment products and solutions as well as one of the world's largest futures brokers.  The Group employs over 4,000 people in 16 countries, with key centres in London, Pfaeffikon (Switzerland), Chicago and New York.  Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EMG.L) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.  Further information on the Man Group can be found at www.mangroupplc.com.

The City of London provides local government services for the Square Mile, the financial and commercial heart of Britain, and is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the business City as the world's leading international financial and business centre through its policies and services. Its responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and include management of the Barbican Centre, Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres of open space including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health Authority.

EVANS RANDALL TARGETS AMSTERDAM WITH €165M PRE-FUNDING
Investment banking group pursues €1bn goal of mainland European assets

As part of its strategy to create a property portfolio of €1bn of assets across mainland Europe in 2007, Evans Randall, the UK investment banking group, has made a key acquisition in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, with the €165 million pre-funding of the Van Egeraat building, a landmark office development within Amsterdam’s South Axis area. 

The scheme has been pre-let let on a new 10-year lease from January 2009 to De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek NV (DBBW), one of the leading Dutch law firms, at a rent of €8.92 million per annum, which will show Evans Randall a net initial yield of just over 5%.

South Axis is a mixed commercial, residential and recreational urban centre, and one of the most prestigious office locations in the Netherlands.  Within it, the Van Egeraat building will provide some 29,347 sq m (315,888 sq ft), of highly specified, state-of-the-art offices, due for practical completion in January 2009.  Established companies in the surrounding area include corporate headquarters and financial institutions including ABN Amro, ING, as well as law firms Nauta Dutilh, BakerMcKenzie and Van Doorne & Loyens & Loeff.

Evans Randall was advised in its acquisition of the long leasehold interest in the Van Egeraat building by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis.  The vendor was Mahler 4, a joint venture between G&S Vastgoed, ING Real Estate and Fortis Vastgoed Ontwikkeling.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “Having stated our aim to focus our investment programme on the Netherlands and Germany in early 2007, we are delighted to have been able to acquire a development of the stature and covenant of the Van Egeraat building in Amsterdam.   We will continue to target Germany and the Netherlands over the coming months, and hope to make further announcements shortly.“

The acquisition forms part of Evans Randall’s ongoing investment programme throughout Europe and brings total acquisitions by the group to around €3bn in less than two years.  Other major acquisitions which the group has made in mainland Europe include the recently developed €220 million Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart, and ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Van Gool, Boekel De Neree and Loyens & Loeff advised the vendor.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                                                           020 7269 9343

Notes to Editors:

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$30bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      During 2005 and 2006, Evans Randall acquired around £2.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients. Major transactions included:

• Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million.

• Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £156 million.

• The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

• ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

• The head office of the Financial Services Authority at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14, for £200m.

• Five Fire Control Centres, let to the UK Government, for a total sum of £125 million.

4          In February 2007, Evans Randall acquired Swiss Re’s world famous office building at 30 St Mary Axe, London EC

EVANS RANDALL JOINS IVG IN JOINT PURCHASE

OF 30 ST MARY AXE FOR £630M 

London’s ‘Gherkin’ landmark to be offered to private investors

Evans Randall, the St James’s based private investment banking firm, has purchased the landmark office building 30 St Mary Axe in the City of London in a 50:50 joint venture with IVG Immobilien AG. The world famous building in the heart of London’s financial district, known as “the Gherkin”, was acquired from Swiss reinsurance company Swiss Re for £630 million (€950 million) reflecting a yield of c.4.5 per cent. 

Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It will offer approximately 50 per cent of the asset to private and institutional investors via a special purpose vehicle.

IVG also intends to place approximately 50 per cent with private investors via a closed real estate fund in the IVG EuroSelect series. IVG and Evans Randall will act as co-investors placing part of their respective shareholdings with investor clients.

The 500,000 sq ft office tower, nicknamed the Gherkin, was designed by internationally renowned architects Foster and Partners and completed in 2004. It is let to high quality tenants on long term leases, with Swiss Re continuing occupying 50 per cent of the lettable space until at least 2031.

Michael Evans, Chairman and Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said:

“This acquisition fits perfectly with Evans Randall’s strategy to acquire trophy buildings let to strong tenants in Europe’s main financial centres. It complements our £2 billion portfolio which also includes the Financial Services Authority’s headquarters at Canary Wharf, ABN Amro’s UK headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate, the HBOS offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 and ING’s Headquarters in the Hague, Holland.”

“This is exactly the type of high quality real estate asset that we and our clients look to invest in and we expect to announce further acquisitions of a similar caliber across Europe in the coming weeks.”

CB Richard Ellis, the leading real estate adviser, is retained by Evans Randall and represented them in the transaction.  CBRE and Knight Frank advised IVG Immobilien while DTZ and Eurohypo advised Swiss Re.

The asset will be managed by IVG Immobilien AG‘s London subsidiary.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis

020 7269 9343

0777 551 8587

Editors’ notes

Evans Randall

1.      Evans Randall is a privately-owned investment banking firm specialising in structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate transactions. Since formation in September 1993, the UK-based company has arranged or advised on US$30bn of transactions, on behalf of both private investors and international corporate clients.

2.      In the real estate sector, Evans Randall sources, arranges, underwrites and manages large-scale commercial property investments on behalf of itself and its investor clients. It targets real estate returns of up to 20% pa and in some cases higher.

3.      During 2005 and 2006, Evans Randall acquired around £2.5bn of UK and European property investments on behalf of itself and clients. Major transactions included:

·         Halifax plc’s offices at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million.

·         Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £156 million.

·         The newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart at a capitalised value of €220m

·         ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands

·         The head office of the Financial Services Authority at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14, for £200m.

·         ABN AMRO’s London headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2, for a similar figure.

·         Five Fire Control Centres, let to the UK Government, for a total sum of £125 million.

IVG Immobilien AG

1.      IVG Immobilien AG is a European real estate investment company managing €18bn across its business divisions including portfolio management, project development, funds and caverns. The investment focus is on office buildings in key European cities.  IVG uses its branch network to successfully leverage local market opportunities and generate attractive returns for investors.

Investment banking group targets completion of the acqusiition of €1bn of assets in mainland Europe by next March

Evans Randall, the UK investment banking group, has made its first acquisition in Germany, buying the newly developed Königsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart from HSH N Real Estate AG, a subsidiary of HSH Nordbank AG. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Baden-Württemberg state trust. This follows the acquisition of ING’s “Haagse Poort” HQ building for an all in cost of €220mm in March of this year.

The acquisition is part of Evans Randall’s ongoing investment programme throughout Europe and brings total acquisitions by the group to around €3bn in less than two years. Transactions in Germany and the Netherlands totaling a further €400 million are expected in the coming weeks and Evans Randall aims to build a portfolio of more than €1bn in Western Europe alone by March 2007.

Königsbau Passagen is a high quality shopping centre and office complex in the centre of Stuttgart, home of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, providing 27,000 sq m of retail and 18,000 sq m of modern high-specification offices. Opened in April of this year, the development connects with the Konigsstrasse, Stuttgart’s main pedestrian shopping street and one of Germany’s busiest shopping districts.

The weekly footfalls through the centre are now double those estimated during the construction and pre letting of the centre. The retail space was fully pre-let to tenants including Saturn and Postbank during the last 3 years at rents which are now significantly reversionary and will benefit further from an improving German Economy and tenant demand. All the leases benefit from fixed increases and indexation.

The investment reflects a yield of c.5.25%.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “Königsbau Passagen is a very high quality development in one of Western Europe’s best retail and commercial markets. Its performance is fast exceeding expectations and the asset already looks significantly reversionary. This is the first major European Retail transaction that Evans Randall has completed since Robert Kanerick joined Evans Randall earlier this year, to be responsible for European retail acquisitions, and we are confident that this will be the first of many such projects in the retail sector”

Evans Randall’s acquisition has been financed by HSH N Real Estate’s parent company, HSH Nordbank AG. “It gives us great pleasure to be able to assist our business partner Evans Randall once again with a strategic investment on the European continent,” declared Bernhard Visker, Head of HSH Nordbank’s Real Estate segment. “This transaction is further proof of the rapidly growing importance of cross-border investments in the real estate sector, especially in Germany." Back in March of this year HSH Nordbank financed the acquisition of the landmark Haagse Poort office property in The Hague by Evans Randall.

In addition to Königsbau Passagen in Stuttgart, Evans Randall is well advanced in the acquisition of a large office complex, also in Germany, for in excess of €200m as well as a major office development in the Netherlands for a similar sum. Both these transactions are scheduled to complete by mid November which will bring Evans Randall’s European acquisitions to about €850mm since March of this year

Evans Randall invests in and manages large-scale property investments, as part of an investment banking business that also specialises in high value, cross border structured finance transactions.

Evans Randall was advised by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis and by its lawyers S J Berwin in Germany.

Notes to Editors:

About Evans Randall

Evans is a privately held investment banking group that specializes arranging and investing in high quality real estate and other cash flow transactions. The company was set up in 1993 and to date has arranged global transactions with a total volume of approximately USD 27 billion

For more information please visit our website at www.evansrandall.com.

About HSH N Real Estate AG

HSH N Real Estate AG was established in the spring of 2004 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSH Nordbank AG. HSH N Real Estate AG's offerings include all real estate activities of the banking group with the exception of the original financing business. They include real estate project development, the real estate fund business as well as equity investments and real estate services, including real estate consulting.

For more information please visit our website at www.hshn-realestate.com.

About HSH Nordbank AG

HSH Nordbank AG is a strong commercial bank in Northern Europe with total assets of € 190 billion. Some 4,400 of the bank’s employees provide corporate and high net-worth clients around the globe with premium bank products and services. In its core region of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, it is the market leader in the corporate customer segment. HSH Nordbank is an acknowledged partner of the capital markets. At international level, its main focus is on transportation and real estate. In fact, HSH Nordbank is the world’s biggest provider of ship finance and covers the entire value chain in the transportation segment. In the area of real estate, HSH Nordbank is one of the strongest banks in Germany, acting as a provider relating to all aspects of real estate.

For more information please visit our website at www.hsh-nordbank.com.

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis

020 7269 9343

With the acquisition of Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow valued at £162 million Evans Randall has completed real estate investment purchases in the past four weeks of almost £500 million.

This followed the recent acquisition of a portfolio of five, new,  strategic Fire Control Centres leased to the UK Government for £125 million and the purchase of the HBOS Headquarters building at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million.

All assets have similar features with excellent quality tenants, rated A+ or better, long leases of between 20 years and 33 years, with fixed uplifts in rentals.

Evans Randall, the privately-owned investment banking group, has completed the acquisition of Cisco Systems UK headquarters near Heathrow for £156 million bringing its real estate investment purchases in the past four weeks to almost half a billion pounds.

Evans Randall has acquired Cisco’s three buildings at Lakeshore, 9-11 New Square, part of the Bedfont Lakes Office Park, located less than two miles from Heathrow airport.  The buildings, built in 2000 and totalling 25,350 sq m (272,800 sq ft), are leased to Cisco for a remaining term of 19 years at a passing rent of £8 million per year, subject to fixed annual uplifts of 2.5% from June 2009.

Jones Lang LaSalle advised the vendor, Bedfont Lakes Business Park Limited Partnership, whilst Evans Randall were advised by their retained agent, CB Richard Ellis.  Neither parties were available for comment.

Evans Randall was advised by CB Richard Ellis, the group’s retained advisers on all of its UK and European acquisitions. Senior debt on all five transactions was provided by Bank of Scotland. Evans Randall was advised by lawyers S J Berwin in the UK and Bedell Cristin in Jersey.

In the past 12 months, Evans Randall has invested substantially in the commercial real estate sector, which has become a particularly attractive asset class in comparison with equities and bonds.

To date it has acquired close to £1.8 billion of UK and mainland European property investments on behalf of clients. Major transactions include:

• ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands.

• The head office of the Financial Services Authority at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14, for £200m.

• ABN AMRO’s London headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2, for a similar figure.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Dominic Morgan, FD Tamesis                      

020 7269 9343

Evans Randall, the privately-owned investment banking group, has acquired 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 for £197 million, as part of its ongoing programme to acquire up to £2 billion of real estate assets throughout Europe during 2006/2007.

The 192,300-sq-ft office building, located in the central core of the City of London, is let to Halifax plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of HBOS, on a 35-year lease with 33 years remaining. The current rent is approximately £8 million a year and the lease contains fixed rental uplifts every five years at 2.56% p.a. compound.

Evans Randall acquired the building from a joint venture between Prestbury, West Coast Capital and Bank of Scotland, advised by Franc Warwick. Evans Randall was advised by its retained agent, CB Richard Ellis.

Michael Evans, Chief Executive of Evans Randall, said: “33 Old Broad Street fits perfectly with our strategy to acquire large commercial assets occupied by tenants with strong covenants, on leases with fixed or index-linked rental uplifts. We are actively looking to acquire similar assets throughout Europe.”

Evans Randall is targeting properties of between £75m and £300m in value, particularly in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and the cities of Paris and Brussels. It sources, arranges, co-invests in and manages large-scale property investments on behalf of private investors, as part of an investment banking business that also specialises in high value, cross border structured finance transactions.

In the past 12 months, the company has invested substantially in the commercial real estate sector, which has become a particularly attractive asset class in comparison with equities and bonds.

To date it has acquired close to £1.5 billion of UK and mainland European property investments on behalf of clients. Major transactions include:

• ING Bank’s €225 million landmark building at Haagse Poort The Hague, Netherlands.

• The head office of the Financial Services Authority at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14, for £200m.

• ABN AMRO’s London headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2, for a similar figure.

• The European headquarters of 3M in Bracknell, Berkshire, for £75m.

Evans Randall, the privately held investment banking group announces the purchase of ING Bank’s landmark building, Schenkkade 65, the Hague, Netherlands for €203 million in an off market acquisition from the German Open ended fund – KanAm Grundinvest. The building was acquired by KanAm, in early 2005, as part of a sale and leaseback of two ING assets, one in The Hague and the other in Amsterdam. ING is rated AA by leading rating agency Standard & Poors.

The building, which has a total NIA of 67,840 sq m was built for ING’s occupation in 1994 and was constructed with an arch over the Utreschtsebaan. This coupled with its distinctive architecture and size makes it one of the most striking buildings in The Hague and possibly in the Netherlands.

This transaction represents the groups first foray into real estate in mainland Europe and forms a key part of Evans Randall’s strategy to acquire up to €1 billion of well let assets for high quality tenants across Europe..

Evans Randall has been successful in acquiring similar Landmark assets in the UK. It has achieved this by underwriting the acquisition funding and then completing the purchase within a very tight timescale. This transaction was completed in 10 business days and it is this speed of execution that provides vendors with certainty in relation to completion of a sale.

Evans Randall is a retained client of CB Richard Ellis, who have advised on all of Evans Randall’s UK and European acquisitions.  Senior Debt was provided by HSH Nordbank (Dutch Real Estate Office). Evans Randall was advised by lawyers, Boekel de Neree in the Netherlands, S J Berwin in the UK and Bedell Cristin in Jersey.

Note to Editors:

Evans Randall has invested almost £1 billion in high quality, well let, UK real estate assets in 2005 and plans to double its UK investment in 2006. The group also intends to invest around €1 billion in European assets in 2006 as part of a diversified portfolio of investments.

As in the UK Evans Randall’s intention is to invest in high quality core assets let to very strong covenants, similar to ABN AMRO, the Financial Services Authority, the UK Government and ING who are already tenants of the group.

Evans Randall announces the completion of the acquisition of the Financial Services Authority's London Headquarters located at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf under a £200 million 13 year lease transaction.  Senior Debt was provided by Bank of Scotland Corporate and initial equity finance was provided by Evans Randall and by clients of the firm.

Evans Randall is a privately held investment banking firm specialising in global structured finance, private equity and commercial real estate investments. Over the last eight months Evans Randall has committed to acquire over GBP 750 million of commercial real estate transactions under leasing transactions with highly rated international companies and it is anticipated that its portfolio of such investments will grow to around GBP 1 billion by the end of 2005, with up to GBP 500 million being committed to similar transactions each year thereafter.

Evans Randall’s retained property adviser is CBRE who represented them at all stages of this transaction. Legal advisers to Evans Randall and the investing company, 250 Bishopsgate Investment Company Limited were SJ Berwin in London and Bedell Cristin in Jersey.