14 December 2009 - MGPA, the private equity real estate investment advisory company, on behalf of MGPA Europe Fund III, has completed the acquisition of the UK land bank company, Lands Improvement Holdings plc (“LIH”), for £52.5 million from Clerical Medial Investment Group, part of the Lloyds Banking Group (“CMIG”).

MGPA Europe Fund III (the “Fund”) is part of the larger MGPA Global Fund III, which closed in June 2008 with commitments of US$5.2 billion to invest across Europe and Asia. The Fund itself raised US$1.3 billion (€841.5 million) and has already made investments in France, Italy, Greece and Poland and currently remains largely un-invested.

LIH controls over 2,600 acres of land and specialises in the purchase, promotion and delivery of large-scale sites to house builders throughout the UK. LIH delivers serviced development parcels to house builders and commercial developers in accordance with development frameworks, master plans and design guides through the planning process.

LIH’s portfolio includes a range of edge-of-town greenfield, brownfield and mixed-use regeneration projects across the UK and some of their latest developments include Haddenham Business Park and Airfield, for residential and employment uses, Redhill Park in Telford, for residential development and a large residential led mixed use scheme on a former power station site on Poole Harbour.

LIH has an experienced team of nine employees including planners, development surveyors and engineers. Through its investment in the team and the LIH platform, the Fund will seek to create a long term sustainable land promotion business. The business is likely to dispose of non-core agricultural assets and commercial estates and will focus on promoting strategic land for sale to house builders in order to take advantage of the structural supply/demand imbalance of housing in the UK. The Fund intends to expand on LIH’s existing core strategic portfolio through the acquisition of additional individual plots or portfolios.

MGPA’s Head of UK Acquisitions, Simon Marriott said, “The UK is a key market for MGPA Europe Fund III, with LIH being the first investment in the UK for the Fund. We are positive about the long term prospects for the residential land market fundamentally due to the structural supply demand imbalance. LIH allows the Fund to invest efficiently in a mixed land portfolio, at a time where we are seeing cyclical lows in land prices. The specialist platform will create capital appreciation opportunities by promoting sites through the planning process”.

Henry Richards, MD of LIH said, “I am very pleased that MGPA have chosen to invest in LIH and I am confident that there will be considerable synergies from combing their property and funding expertise with our strategic and development land business focussed on the residential land market. I look forward to working with MGPA to grow our business and make further property acquisitions at this early stage of the property cycle after a number of years of overinflated prices”.

MGPA was advised by Bidwells, Ashurst and PwC.

MGPA

MGPA is an independently managed private equity real estate investment advisory company focused on real estate investment in Europe and Asia. Through its network of offices throughout Europe and Asia, MGPA currently manages US$11 billion in assets throughout these two regions. Its managed investments include development and redevelopment projects, joint-ventures and real estate operating companies in the office, retail, industrial, residential and hotel sectors. MGPA is owned by its senior management team and the Macquarie Group, a diversified international provider of banking, financial, advisory and investment services, headquartered in Sydney, Australia. For more information about MGPA please visit www.mgpa.com.

LIH

Lands Improvement Holdings Plc, originally called Agricultural Lands Improvement Holdings Limited, was established in 1976. In 1977 LIH acquired the entire share capital of the Lands Improvement Company (“LIC”), then owned by CMIG who had been a major shareholder of the company since 1935. In May 1996 LIH obtained a listing on the London Stock Exchange by way of an introduction at a price of approximately £1.20 a share valuing LIH at £30 million. At the time CMIG held 49.6% of the outstanding share capital of LIH. In December 1999 an offer from CMIG to buy out the other shareholders was accepted and it was de-listed in early 2000.