Carlyle Buys Six Landmark Central London Assets For £671M

London ‐ Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”), today announces that it has exchanged contracts for the acquisition of six landmark central London properties, which were formerly part of the portfolio securing the White Tower 2006‐3 plc CMBS. The properties, comprising the Thames Portfolio and Alban Gate total in excess of 1.6m sqft and currently generate over £62m of rent per annum. They have been acquired for a total of £671m.

The portfolio of six assets comprises the following:

• 60 Victoria Embankment – 420,000 sqft of mainly office buildings, fully let to JP Morgan Chase.

• Ludgate House – A 170,000 sqft office building located on the south bank of the Thames next to Blackfriars bridge. The property is fully let to United Business Media.

• Sampson House – 350,000 sqft of office accommodation. Located on the south bank of the Thames, the office building is fully let to IBM.

• Millenium Bridge House – A 200,000 sqft office building located on the north bank of the Thames in the City, which is fully let to UBS.

• BSI tower – Located in Chiswick, West London, this office building totalling 140,000 sqft is fully let to BSI Management Systems Ltd.

• Alban Gate – An office property located on London Wall in the heart of the City, totalling 382,000 sqft over 22 floors. It is fully let to JP Morgan Chase.

This acquisition was made on behalf of Carlyle’s third pan‐European real estate fund, Carlyle European Real Estate Partners III, which was launched in June 2008 with €2.2bn of equity. Financing for the Thames Portfolio was provided by a consortium of banks led by Société Générale as Structuring Bank. Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and ING acted as Arrangers, and ING as Facility Agents. AXA REIM participated in the financing of the Thames Portfolio. In the case of Alban Gate, Société Générale acted as Arranger and Sole Bookrunner.

Commenting on the investment, Robert Hodges, Managing Director, Carlyle European Real Estate, said: “This acquisition has provided us with a rare opportunity to acquire six landmark assets in strong locations, let to a number of global high quality occupiers. Whilst each property benefits from an existing secure income profile, there are considerable longer term opportunities across the portfolio for active asset management and redevelopment, where we believe we can add significant value.

“This acquisition is a further example of our strategy in Europe of making long‐term investments in landmark assets in strategically important European centres. We are especially pleased to secure long term, flexible financing from a syndicate of strong relationship banks led by Société Générale, for such a large portfolio, especially given current debt market conditions. The profile of these assets sits well with our pan European portfolio in CEREP III and we look forward to creating value through the many opportunities which lie within these assets.”

Carlyle was advised by GVA Grimley, Herbert Smith and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

# # #