The Carlyle Group in Fourth Development Project in Hamburg City Centre

London – Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announces it has acquired the majority stake of the "BrahmsQuartier" development in the city centre of Hamburg from Aug.Prien, a German construction company. Aug. Prien will remain as the minority investor and also will be involved in the development and construction of the site.

Carlyle and Aug. Prien plan to build an office building with space for 1,000 office workers on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse with a space of approximately 24,000m2, two residential buildings of 5,000m2 for 60 to 70 apartments as well as an underground parking area for 550 parking spaces. The total project totals €120 million. The initial works on the development began in June this year.

"The development of BrahmsQuartier is a very important project for The Carlyle Group," said Wulf Meinel, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group. "Our team is looking forward to working with Aug.Prien, which is very well respected as the developer on this project and in the local market, and is an important partner for us."

Jan Petersen, CEO of Aug. Prien said, "We have found an excellent site for an office with BrahmsQuartier in the attractive area of the city."

Carlyle is investing in BrahmsQuartier through its second European real estate fund, Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners II, a €760 million fund. Clifford Chance advised Carlyle, and EuroHypo provided the financing.

This is Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners II's fourth property development investment in the Hamburg city centre. In March 2005, Carlyle acquired Gänsemarkt 45, where it is currently developing a new retail and office building. The complex will include retail space of nearly 2,000 m2 on two floors, and approximately 8,000m2 of office space. In April 2006, it acquired an office and retail asset on Hohe Bleichen 7/Amelungstraße/Axel-Springer-Platz 4 in the centre of Hamburg, where it plans to develop a very attractive office and retail building. Earlier this month, Carlyle announced its plans to build a logistics centre for the retail chain H&M Hennes & Mauritz in Hamburg-Allermohe, and has acquired a 150,000m2 site for construction. In total, through these development projects, Carlyle is investing approximately €350 million in the city of Hamburg.

Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners invests in individual property assets and portfolios across Europe, and has completed over 38 investments involving over 300 properties in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Belgium and Denmark.