Property Sales and Purchases

British Land Co PLC 23 July 2002 23rd July 2002 OVER £250 MILLION PROPERTY SALES; AND £70 MILLION PURCHASES AT BROADGATE AND EDINBURGH The British Land Company PLC has made further progress on sales of non-core properties within British Land and its various joint ventures during the current financial year. Since the year end of 31st March 2002, contracts have exchanged or completed on over £250 million of property sales, in excess of valuation, including a number of retail units within the BL Universal portfolio (the joint venture with Great Universal Stores), two distribution warehouse units within BLT Properties (the joint venture with Tesco), and several residential properties. British Land also announces that it has acquired the 50% it did not already own of Broadgate Phase 12 Limited, the company undertaking the proposed development of 201 Bishopsgate, Broadgate, London EC2, from Railtrack Group. The consideration is £40.25 million, of which £1 million is payable once certain consents are received. British Land has submitted a revised planning application for the development which increases the net accommodation to 68,500 sq.m (737,300 sq.ft). Boosting its Retail Park interests, British Land has also acquired Meadowbank Retail Park in Edinburgh for £30 million. An additional £1 million of consideration is payable on the successful completion of a fast food unit at the Park which has been pre-let to Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Park provides 149,000 sq.ft of accommodation with an open retail consent, and includes a Sainsbury superstore together with other tenants such as JJB Sports, TK Maxx and Au Naturale. Today's average rent is only £12.50 per sq.ft, and following settlement of outstanding or imminent rent reviews the running rental yield is expected to be 7%. John Weston Smith, Chief Operating Officer, commented: "We are very pleased with the sales progress and the two new acquisitions. The building at 201 Bishopsgate, which we expect to generate a considerable surplus, will offer unrivalled accommodation to both professional and financial occupiers." Contacts The British Land Company PLC: John Ritblat, Chairman tel: 020 7467 2831/2829 John Weston Smith, Chief Operating Officer tel: 020 7467 2899 Finsbury: Faeth Birch tel: 020 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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