Acquisition

Land Securities Group Plc
11 August 2005



11 August 2005



METRO SHOPPING FUND MAKES FIRST ACQUISITION WITH PURCHASE OF HALF A MIILION
SQUARE FEET IN WANDSWORTH



The Metro Shopping Fund ('Metro' / 'Fund'), the 50/50 London retail joint
venture between Land Securities Group PLC ('Land Securities') and Delancey,
announces the acquisition of Southside, Wandsworth, London SW18 for £188
million.  The purchase from Wandsworth LP, a joint venture between Portfolio
Holdings, Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Deutsche Bank Real Estate's Global
Opportunities Fund, reflects an equivalent yield of 5.75%.



Southside comprises a 530,000 sq ft (49,237 sq m) shopping centre incorporating
retail, leisure, and office accommodation, with five residential blocks above,
and an adjoining 1,180 multi-storey car park. The wide ranging retail offer
includes Waitrose, Next, H&M, Primark and HMV, a 14 screen cinema let to
Cineworld and a Virgin Active healthclub.



The purchase of Southside represents the first acquisition by Metro since its
formation in June 2004 taking the total size of the fund to over £0.5bn and the
total square footage of the Fund's assets to nearly 1 million sq ft (92,900 sq
m) across five London retail assets. The other assets owned by Metro are
Shopstop @ Clapham Junction, N1 Islington, Victoria Place, SW1 and Notting Hill
Gate W11.



Commenting on behalf of the Metro Shopping Fund, Anna-Louise Lancaster said:



'This is a significant purchase for the Metro Shopping Fund and is consistent
with the Fund's strategy to acquire and manage assets which provide extensive
opportunities for growth.



'Across the Metro portfolio we are working to capitalise on Delancey's and Land
Securities' expertise in the London market to develop a tenant profile which
matches the requirements of the centre's customers and thereby maximising the
performance of the asset.'



Tim Haden-Scott added:



'The purchase of Southside provides the Metro Shopping Fund with the critical
mass which is so important to maximise opportunities for our tenants and fully
exploit the synergies across the portfolio.



'We are continuing to pursue opportunities to grow the Fund further through new
purchases or through the addition of third party investors with the aim of
building it to a value of over £1 billion.'



Metro has acquired Southside at an important phase in the centre's evolution. It
is part way through a programme of redevelopment and improvement which will
transform the centre into a major south west London shopping and leisure
destination. Southside has already experienced a noticeable makeover in recent
years by the arrival of a large number of new retailers spearheaded by Waitrose.
Metro's approach to the next phase will be to further enhance the environment by
focusing on a closer alignment of the retail offer to the surrounding affluent
catchment. Metro will also target an improvement to the physical environment of
the centre, creating an outward looking centre that integrates with the local
high street and surrounding area.



The Metro Shopping Fund was advised by Dalgleish and Angermann Goddard & Loyd.
Strutt & Parker acted on behalf of the vendor.



                                     -Ends-



For further information, please contact:



Emma Denne/ Melissa Winsor

Land Securities Group PLC

Tel: [phone]



Sally Hands

Delancey

Tel: [phone]



Dido Laurimore / Stephanie Highett

Financial Dynamics

Tel: [phone]





Notes to Editors







Metro Shopping Fund



Formed in June 2004, Metro Shopping Fund Limited is a 50/50 Limited Partnership
between Delancey and Land Securities Group PLC.  The joint venture, which has
dedicated management to provide asset, corporate and property management
services, is designed to maximise long-term value from the portfolio's assets in
order to leverage economies of scale and enhance value creation opportunities.
The portfolio includes Southside, Wandsworth, Shopstop @ Clapham Junction, N1
Islington, Victoria Place, SW1 and Notting Hill Gate W11.



Delancey



Delancey provides real estate related advisory and management services to a
variety of clients in respect of a broad range of assets varying from individual
property investments and developments throughout the UK to corporate
investments. The Group's investment strategies are based upon four fundamental
criteria: of underlying quality of assets, liquidity, provision of stable
cashflows and capital growth potential.



Land Securities Group PLC



Land Securities is a FTSE100 company, quoted on the London Stock Exchange.  It
has been at the forefront of the UK's commercial property industry for over 60
years.  Today, the Group maintains its market leading position as the UK's
largest quoted property company by providing commercial accommodation and
property services to a wide range of occupiers.  The Group's objective is to
create attractive, sustainable returns for its shareholders through a strategy
of investing in commercial property in markets and activities where it has
expertise and operational skills, where it can benefit from its risk management
skills and the active recycling of capital.



Land Securities holds a market leading position in three areas of the UK
commercial property market:



  • Retail property,
  • London offices and
  • Property outsourcing.



Its £10 billion combined investment portfolio includes over 10 million sq feet
of office and retail space in Central London and 28 shopping centres and 30
retail parks located across the UK.



It has a substantial development programme with a number of development projects
including major retail-led urban regeneration schemes and Central London
mixed-use developments.  The Group is also masterplanning one of Europe's
largest regeneration schemes in Kent Thameside.

The Group leads the market in property outsourcing where, through Land
Securities Trillium, it provides accommodation and property-related services to
the Department for Work and Pensions, the BBC, Norwich Union, Barclays Bank,
DVLA and through a joint venture, Telereal, to BT.



The Group is committed to environmental initiatives and community involvement
recognised by the Group's inclusion in the BiTC Corporate Responsibility Index,
FTSE4Good Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.





ENDS


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