Benson Elliot continues march into
Europe with Spanish investment

Mogull’s new platform exploits loss of confidence in Costa del Sol market to snare prime opportunity in Catalonia alongside Barcelona’s Promobuilding SL

14 May 2007 — Benson Elliot Capital Management (“Benson Elliot”), the private equity real estate firm founded by Marc Mogull, and Promobuilding SL, a leading Catalan residential development company (“Promobuilding”), announce the acquisition of a prime residential site along the Costa Dorada, in Mont Roig del Camp, and the launch of their first development joint venture.

Les Pobles Migdia, as the project has preliminarily been named, will provide up to 200 villa-style units, in a low density, attractively landscaped setting. The acquisition is the fourth by Benson Elliot for Benson Elliot Real Estate Partners II (the “Fund”) since it began its investment programme in the fourth quarter of last year. It follows the Fund’s investment in Denmark, alongside leading Danish developer Sjælsø Gruppen, the acquisition of the Deutsch-Japanische Center in Düsseldorf, and, most recently, the acquisition, in joint venture with Générale Continentale Investissements, of six office properties in Paris.

Marc Mogull, Managing Partner of Benson Elliot, said: “This is an exciting project for the Fund, with an impressive and experienced local development partner. We’ve monitored the Catalan residential market with Promobuilding for some time, but needed something like the negative news barrage in the Costa del Sol to bring vendor price expectations into line with our own.

“We are bullish about the long-term outlook for the Costa Dorada, with its unique ability to attract both primary and second home buyers. Tarragona, just 20 minutes away, is one of Spain’s fastest growing cities. Moreover, with Spain’s high speed rail now coming on line, Barcelona will be less than an hour away, Zaragoza almost the same, and Madrid less than three hours.”

Xavier Perez of Promobuilding said: “We’re delighted to be working with Benson Elliot on this project, and hope it will be the first of many. Exploiting the Mont Roig opportunity, in the timeframe available to us, was only possible because we were able to act quickly and decisively. We wouldn’t have been able to do that without Benson Elliot; they understood the market, embraced our vision for the site and gave us the support we needed when we needed it.”

Mont Roig is well-known as the childhood home of the Catalan Surrealist artist Joan Miró. Miró started painting in Mont Roig, with one of his famous seascapes interpreted from a scenic vantage point a short walk from the site. The site is also distinctive because of its situation just 150 metres from the sea. Following the recent adoption of Catalonia’s Plan Director Urbanistico del Sistema Costero, development within 500 metres of the coast is no longer permitted in Catalonia.

Financing for the transaction was provided by Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo. Legal advice to Benson Elliot was provided by Ashurst.