NCC sells property to CLS Holdings plc for SEK 487 million

NCC sells property to CLS Holdings plc for SEK 487 million NCC Real Estate has sold the Lasarettet 2 property at Vänerparken, Vänersborg, Sweden, to CLS Holdings plc (CLS), a publicly traded British real estate company. The purchase price is SEK 487 million and the sale will yield a gain of approximately SEK 130 million for NCC Real Estate. The sold property comprises about 45,000 square meters of floor space and generates net rental revenues of SEK 50.7 million annually. More than 98 percent of the floor space is already leased to central government, municipal and county council authorities. Approximately 85 percent of the leases have a term that extends to the year 2015. The property consists primarily of health- care, training and office premises, as well as a restaurant, a marina and exercise facilities. "From our viewpoint, the acquisition represents an opportunity to own and manage a large and important Swedish property with excellent tenants. The transaction will provide us with an exceptionally good yield", says Sten Mörstedt, Executive Chairman of CLS. Local and central government institutions in London account for about 40 percent of CLS´s existing rental revenues. CLS specializes in properties in central London and owns properties with a book value of GBP 375 million, corresponding to slightly more than SEK 4.9 billion. HSBC Investment Bank was CLS´s advisor in this transaction. "We acquired Vänerparken ten years ago and immediately initiated renovation of the buildings, which were then leased to operations in the health-care and social services sectors," says Magnus Mannesson, President of NCC Real Estate. "Since the property is now fully developed and Vänersborg is not one of NCC´s priority locations, we considered it natural to implement a sale at the present time. As a result, priority locations now account for 97 percent of NCC Real Estate´s real estate portfolio." CLS will take over the property on September 22, 1998. For further information, please contact: Magnus Mannesson, President, NCC Real Estate AB (Tel: +46-8 655 22 75) Sten Mörstedt, Executive Chairman, CLS Holdings plc (Tel: +44-171 582 7766) Glyn Hirsch, Chief Executive, CLS Holdings plc (Tel: +44-171 582 7766)