Benson Elliot kicks off investment programme with joint venture with Denmark’s Sjælsø Gruppen

Friends reunited as former partners combine to create
Copenhagen’s premier waterfront condominium community

6 October 2006 — Benson Elliot Capital Management, the European private equity real estate company founded by Marc Mogull, announced today that it has concluded its first transaction, acquiring a 50% interest in P/S Havneholmen (the “Joint Venture”) alongside Danish quoted real estate developer Sjælsø Gruppen A/S (K: SJGR). The Joint Venture has been established to complete the development and sale of Sjælsø’s prominent Havneholmen residential project on Copenhagen’s transformed south harbour.

Marc Mogull, managing partner of Benson Elliot, said: “To have completed our first transaction just weeks after closing the first Benson Elliot fund is a testimony to the strength of the team we have assembled. It underlines the team’s ability to identify quality opportunities and structure creative solutions, even in a competitive market.”

The Joint Venture will acquire upon completion 171 condominium units in Havneholmen, totalling app. 18,000 square metres. Designed by renowned Danish architects Lundgaard & Tranberg, and situated on a unique harbour front site, Havneholmen will be delivered in four phases. Phases 1 and 2 are already under construction, with completion planned for late 2007. Phases 3 and 4 are expected to be completed one year later.

The Joint Venture reunites Marc Mogull, formerly managing director of Doughty Hanson Real Estate, with the Sjælsø team. At Doughty Hanson Mr. Mogull led three Copenhagen joint ventures with Sjælsø, comprising 45,000 square metres of offices and 1,000 residential units. The total value of these investments was over DKK 3.3 billion (€440 million).

“The venture illustrates our continuing confidence in the Danish property market and in Sjælsø Gruppen,” said Mr. Mogull. “The market today is strong, and healthy economic factors underpin the outlook. High employment and low interest rates, combined with substantial buyer liquidity and a sound economy, provide a healthy basis for Copenhagen residential investment — in the short term as well as further ahead.”

“Having worked so successfully with Sjælsø in the past, I’m pleased to continue that relationship on a project as prestigious as Havneholmen. Much of Copenhagen’s housing stock consists of older homes of outdated design and size — homes that are often ill-suited for the needs of modern families. With an improving local economy, and Havneholmen’s excellent harbour front location, we have high expectations for this partnership with Sjælsø.”

Flemming Jensen, Director of Sjælsø Gruppen, said: “We’re delighted that the partnership with Benson Elliot will allow us to complete the project faster than expected while, at the same time, offering potential buyers more attractive conditions. We feel that home buyers in central Copenhagen, in particular, want to move into their new homes as soon as possible after signing the purchase contract. The partnership with Benson Elliot means that we can better meet the demand for a faster transfer as the requirement for selling the apartments before the construction phase starts can now be met without compromising our financial targets.”

“Sjælsø Gruppen works regularly with Danish and international partners developing property projects,” added Mr. Jensen. “This enables us to optimise our skills and expertise and in our view, working together with professional investors and partners on major projects continues to offer considerable opportunities.