Acquisition

Helical Bar PLC
05 May 2004

5 May 2004

                        Helical Bar plc ('Helical Bar')

          Helical Bar acquires 10/38 The Hayes, 33/41 St Mary Street,
                       Royal and Morgan Arcades, Cardiff



Helical Bar plc has entered into a binding commitment to acquire 100% of the
David Morgan department store and Royal and Morgan Arcades in Cardiff from the
Morgan family for a purchase price of £29 million. Legal completion of the
purchase will be on 14 March 2005.

The David Morgan department store, located on The Hayes, provides circa 170,000
sq.ft. of retail accommodation which is being sold with vacant possession.  In
addition, the Royal and Morgan Arcades comprise 65,000 sq.ft. of retail units
generating a rent roll of £1.15 million per annum.  The total site, which
extends to 2.5 acres, has been assembled and held by the Morgan family over 124
years.

Helical Bar intends to sub-divide the department store to provide a number of
large retail units fronting The Hayes.  The Hayes is already destined to become
a high quality fashion pitch as part of the St David's 2 Shopping Centre scheme
(a new 750,000 sq.ft. retail proposal by Land Securities and Capital Shopping
Centres anchored by a 250,000 sq.ft. John Lewis store and scheduled to complete
in 2008). The department store is listed and a planning application will be made
in the forthcoming months.

This investment will enable Helical Bar to capture the uplift in values arising
from the improvement in pitch in addition to any shorter term profit that
accrues from reconfiguring the department store and actively managing the
arcades.


For further information, please contact:
Helical Bar
Michael Brown, Investment Director
Tel: [phone]

Financial Dynamics
Stephanie Highett/Dido Laurimore
Tel: [phone]


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