25 February 2010 - MGPA, the private equity real estate investment advisory company, announces that it wound up its Global Fund I, an opportunistic US$480million global fund which delivered strong returns to investors and culminated in the successful sale of US$5billion of assets. The Fund is one of the first of its time to be round-tripped within the timeline agreed at inception and to meet the return targets.

Established in 1999 by the existing senior management team, the vintage Fund invested on behalf of 15 global institutional investors across Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. The Fund made 21 investments across 12 countries throughout Asia and Europe including Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the UK, across all major property sectors, including office, retail, residential and industrial. Through applying its principles of local knowledge and active asset management, MGPA generated more than a two times equity multiple and delivered a gross investment level IRR of 20% to the Fund’s investors at a time when the real estate sector was suffering from the aftermath of the dotcom crash and SARS.

The Fund made a variety of investments demonstrating the application of MGPA’s buy-fix-sell approach. Key assets included:

• The Sogo Portfolio (Japan) which consisted of office and retail space in prime central Tokyo, each building with its own repositioning challenge. MGPA executed individually tailored asset management programmes for each asset, to lease vacant space, reduce operating expenses and refurbish older buildings to increase their value. The portfolio was sold, generating a 2.4 times equity multiple.
• Akeler (UK & Europe) was a unique opportunity to build a fund management platform with assets in the UK and Europe. Akeler was the largest investment in Global Fund I and performed very strongly throughout the life cycle of the investment culminating in a 2.7 times equity multiple.
• Platinum Building, Shanghai (China), finished to the highest international specifications, was positioned to meet the increasing investment demand for Grade A office space in this rapidly growing emerging market and resulted in a 2.5 times equity multiple.
• Meadow Portfolio (UK) was an office and industrial portfolio. MGPA repositioned the assets and, to optimise value at the point of sale, the portfolio was broken up into individual and group assets resulting in a 2.0 times equity multiple.
• 56 Repulse Bay Road (Hong Kong) provided the opportunity to extensively refurbish and reposition as a highly sought-after luxury residential complex. The property was then sold in stages to maximize returns and generate a 1.7 times equity multiple.

James Quille commented, “Global Fund I was MGPA’s flagship fund and I am proud to say that the key personnel remain the same team today. We continue to operate the same investment approach that has stood the test of time, delivering strong returns to our investors following the dotcom crash and throughout the last decade. MGPA now has US$10billion of assets under management and we continue to make selective investments across Asia and Europe.”

MGPA is now investing its US$5.2billion Global Fund III, which also invests on behalf of many of the investors from Funds I and II. To date, MGPA has raised approximately US$8.1 billion of equity for real estate investment and has total Assets under Management of US$10 billion.

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$10.4 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.