Capital & Counties and Great Portland form joint venture

Liberty International subsidiary Capital & Counties Ltd (“C&C”) and Great Portland Estates plc (“GPE”) announce they have agreed to form The Great Capital Partnership (“The Partnership”), a 50:50 joint venture, to own, manage and develop a number of central London properties and to broaden both parties’ exposure in central London. Based on December 2006 book values, The Partnership will have a starting value of £460 million and comprise over 850,000 sq ft of commercial space producing a current net rent of £21.1 million per annum.

C&C are to contribute £299 million of property located in Regent Street, W1; Piccadilly, W1; Jermyn Street, SW1; Wells Street, W1; Tottenham Court Road, W1; Kingsway, WC2; Britton Street, EC1; Wapping Wall, E1 and High Street Kensington, W8.
These properties comprise most of C&C’s existing central London holdings outside Covent Garden. The properties comprise a total of 605,000 sq ft and produce a current net rent of £13.7 million per annum.

GPE will contribute £162 million of property located in Park Crescent, W1; Portland Place, W1; Great Portland Street, W1; Sackville Street, W1 and Broadwick Street, W1. The properties comprise a total of 251,000 sq ft and produce a current net rent of £7.4 million per annum. GPE will also pay a balancing payment of £68 million in cash. GPE will asset manage The Partnership.

Ian Hawksworth, Managing Director of Capital & Counties commented “We are delighted to have created this relationship with GPE. The venture will enable us to increase our involvement in London in partnership with this first class team and is complementary to our significant and expanding wholly owned activities in Covent Garden.”

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive of GPE, said, “The joint venture model has been very successful for GPE and we are very pleased to be forming this new partnership with Capital & Counties. We look forward to working with our partner to drive significant rental and capital growth from this important portfolio.”