21/09/2007

European Property Growth Fund adds to Swedish property portfolio

Standard Life Investments, one of the largest property fund managers in Europe, today announced that it has concluded the purchase of three prime retail warehouses at Kungens Kurva, Sweden, on behalf of its European Property Growth Fund (EPGF).

Kungens Kurva is widely-regarded as the best out of town retail warehouse destination in Sweden, and is only a 15 minute drive south west of central Stockholm. The park includes 50 large retail warehouses – including the world's largest IKEA – with total retail sales space of 250,000sq.m. All three properties were purchased from the Proark Group, a leading Scandinavian Property Company.

The three properties have a total of 8,807sq.m (94,800sq.ft) net lettable retail space on a site area of 27,000sq.m (290,000sq.ft) and are let to eight tenants including H&M, Stadium Sport and other leading fashion, electronic and home furnishing national retailers.

In June, EPGF made its first acquisitions in Sweden with the purchase of four retail warehouse units in Gävle, north of Stockholm, and eight retail warehouse units located in Västerås, a city to the west of Stockholm.

Will Fulton, Manager of the European Property Growth Fund, Standard Life Investments, said:

“We view the Swedish retail market very positively and therefore it’s encouraging that we’ve managed to increase our exposure so soon after making our first Swedish purchases in June of this year. All three acquisitions have high quality tenants and good pedestrian flow, so they are very much in line with the fund’s strategy.”

“The Nordic region as a whole is a key strategic market for us. Good locations, good properties and high quality tenants exist and as such we are actively evaluating other opportunities in this region.”

“We view the Swedish retail market very positively and therefore it’s encouraging that we’ve managed to increase our exposure so soon after making our first Swedish purchases in June of this year. All three acquisitions have high quality tenants and good pedestrian flow, so they are very much in line with the fund’s strategy.”

For the 12 months to 30 June 2007, the European Property Growth Fund returned 22.0%
(Source: Standard Life Investments, net of all fees).

In October 2002, Standard Life Investments successfully closed EPGF, exceeding its original target and resulting in a total geared fund size of €300m. EPGF was restructured in June 2005 principally due to demand from existing partners to extend the life of the fund and give it greater flexibility.

The fund was also expanded to allow access to new investors and was heavily oversubscribed at its new close. As a result, it moved from a closed-ended, finite life structured fund to an innovative open-ended unitised structure. Once fully invested, EPGF will have a fund size well in excess of €900m. The current value of the fund is approximately €700m.

The objective of the fund is to invest in a high quality diversified portfolio of commercial properties across Europe, with a focus on mature, developed Eurozone markets. The fund invests predominantly in the office, industrial/logistics and retail sectors with a view to maximising capital growth by active asset management.

Press Enquiries:
Richard England, Press Manager, Standard Life Investments, +44 (0)131 245 2750
Hilda Stewart, Press Officer, Standard Life Investments, +44 (0)131 245 3610

Investor Enquiries:
Mark Meiklejon, Investment Director - Property, Standard Life Investments, +44 (0)131 245 0962

To access our virtual press office, please go to the address below:
http://uk.standardlifeinvestments.com/content/press/press_index.html

Notes to Editors

1. With more than £15.7bn (€23.3bn) of property assets, Standard Life Investments is one of the largest property investors in Europe (30/06/07).
2. Standard Life Investments has a property team in excess of 80 people, and manages 16 property funds spanning pooled pension products, segregated mandates, mutual funds, sector specialist funds and global property vehicles.
3. With assets under management of £140.6billion (€209.1bn) Standard Life Investments is one of the UK’s major investment houses and controls around 1.9% of the UK stock market (30.06.07).
4. Standard Life Investments operates in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Hong Kong and the USA, and has representative offices in Germany, France and South Korea. Standard Life Investments also operates in India through a joint venture, HDFC.