Regalian Prop.

At last marble arch has been sold. It is interesting to note but not totally surprising that it was the acquirer who issued the statement first. The price is pretty full although very generous consider it represents a yield of 9%. It equates to around 39p a share. I think the fact that they announced first may well lead to Regalian announcing their statement later on with the possibility of the takeover bid delaying the issue of their statement

Marylebone Warwick Balfour Grp PLC
2 January 2001


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2nd January 2001


MWB ACQUIRES 161,000 sq ft MARBLE ARCH LANDMARK OFFICE, LEISURE AND RETAIL
COMPLEX FOR £69.2m


Marylebone Warwick Balfour Group Plc ('MWB') today announces it has exchanged
contracts to acquire the 90-year leasehold interest in Marble Arch Tower, a
central London 161,500 sq ft office, leisure and retail complex, from Regalian
Properties PLC ('Regalian') for a total of £69.2m cash.


Prominently located at the junction of Marble Arch, Edgware Road and Oxford
Street, this landmark building has been the subject of a major refurbishment
programme enabling the office element to be designed as a 'Business Village'.
Marble Arch Tower now satisfies the demands of modern space occupiers through
the provision of serviced office accommodation, flexible and conventional
leases.


The building comprises approximately 95,000 sq ft of offices, a 43,500 sq ft
Odeon Cinema and 23,000 sq ft of retail space. The complex will generate total
net annual rents of approximately £5.6m when the purchase is completed in
March 2001. Income is then anticipated to rise to £6.3m by the end of 2001. At
the purchase price this reflects a net yield of 9%.


Annual income and cashflow from the building will continue to rise as the
amount of space devoted to serviced offices and flexi-leases increases
following the expiry of a number of conventional leases.


It is anticipated that within 12 months MWB Business Exchange will take over
the operating and management of both the serviced and flexi-lease office space
at Marble Arch Tower from Regus.


The fully let office element generates £4.8m of annual rental income from a
wide range of tenants, including Abbey National and Nokia UK Ltd, while the
leisure and retail produces a further £0.8m. Apart from Odeon Cinemas,
occupiers include JD Wetherspoon and J Sainsbury. One retail unit is vacant
and another is under offer.


Richard Balfour-Lynn, MWB's Chief Executive, said: 'The purchase of this
landmark building at Marble Arch complements our stated strategy of acquiring
properties with great potential to be further developed into cashflow
generating businesses. The office element has similar characteristics to our
highly successful 150,000 sq ft Cannon Street Centre in the heart of the City.


'Marble Arch Tower has already been partly converted into a serviced office
complex of more than 33,000 sq ft with further potential to provide a
significant amount of flexi-lease serviced accommodation to large corporate
occupiers seeking quality well located space supported by state-of-the-art IT
and telecommunications.


'This is precisely the type of situation that our fast growing MWB Business
Exchange serviced office business manages so successfully, enabling us to
substantially increase the revenue stream generated by the building.'


The acquisition is being financed by £58.2m of senior debt, £10.5m of
mezzanine finance and £3.6m from the Group's own resources.


This latest purchase completes an extremely active and successful year for
MWB. Since January 2000 MWB has further expanded its serviced office business
both in the UK and Europe; dramatically expanded its hotel operations through
the acquisition of the Howard Hotel and the Malmaison chain for a total of £
120m; acquired the Liberty department store group for £74m; grown its property
development, investment and trading activities with more than £150m of
acquisitions; and, last month, completed an oversubscribed and highly
successful £62m placing and open offer