NRE North Real

RNS Number:8698Z
Absolute Capital Mgmt Holdings Ltd
09 July 2007



                  Absolute Capital Management Holdings Limited
                                    ("ACMH")

            Announces Acquisition of Euro100m asset management contract

                    Establishment of a new property division

Highlights

   * Acquisition by ACMH of contract to manage Euro100m North Real Estate
     Opportunities Fund Limited, ("NREOF")

   * Committed to supporting the continued rapid investment growth of NREOF
     including a secondary offering to fund a pipeline of identified investments
     in Ukraine and Romania

   * NREOF to benefit from ACMH's significant investment, emerging market and
     real estate experience

   * Proposal to change the name of NREOF to Absolute Real Estate
     Opportunities Fund Limited ("AREOF") and leverage ACMH's track record and
     investor base

   * Robert Provine and Magnus Lofgren to join Absolute Capital Management
     Property Limited ("ACMPL"), ACMH's newly established property division

ACMH (AIM: ACMH), the fund management company focused on delivering investment
returns through the management of absolute return funds, today announces the
acquisition of North Asset Management's (North's) interest in the management
contract of NREOF. NREOF is an AIM listed property investment and development
company which raised Euro100m at IPO in August 2006 and has since substantially
committed its IPO proceeds to property investments in Romania, Ukraine and
Moldova.

Under the terms of the transaction, total consideration of Euro12.5m is payable.
Magnus Lofgren and Robert Provine, North's real estate investment principals,
will be joining ACMH's newly created property division ACMPL. ACMPL will receive
a management fee of 2% and a 20% performance fee (the performance fee is payable
on realisation of property investments as long as NREOF achieves an annualised
return of 10%.)

ACMH is committed to supporting the continued rapid growth of and investment by
NREOF and believes it can provide NREOF with significant additional value
through its broad knowledge and experience in emerging markets, depth of
financial expertise in the region's banking and credit sectors, and its exposure
to a range of direct real estate investments.

Since NREOF's admission to AIM in August 2006, it has substantially committed
the Euro100m of equity raised at IPO to investment and development projects, ahead
of expectations. The company has acquired or developed retail and mixed used
developments in Romania and Moldova.

NREOF has a further significant pipeline of identified acquisitions and
developments. ACMH is intending to assist in raising further capital to fund
these development transactions in the Ukraine and Romania. To maximize the
benefit of ACMH's management and marketing capabilities, subject to shareholder
approval, ACMH hopes to procure a change in NREOF's name to Absolute Real Estate
Opportunities Fund Limited. In doing so the management of ACMH believes that
investor interest, particularly from ACMH's existing investor base, will be
enhanced.

Establishment of Absolute Capital Management Property Limited

Today's acquisition establishes Absolute Capital Management's property division,
which will act as a platform for ACMH's further growth and diversification in
the sector. Robert Provine and Magnus Lofgren, two highly experienced
individuals have joined the group and will report directly to Andreas Rialas,
Co-Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director of ACMH. ACMH anticipates
launching a global long/short property fund under ACMPL in the near term.

Commenting on the acquisition, ACMH's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sean
Ewing said: "We have clearly stated our desire to both manage permanent capital
and to create a specialist property division. We are therefore very pleased to
have made the first step in the creation of a significant real estate fund
management capability. The global real estate sector has undergone a period of
expansion and as we enter the next phase, our combined expertise should place us
in a strong position to create value for NREOF's shareholders. In addition it is
our intention to launch a long/short global property fund the timing of which we
believe to be opportune."

Commenting on the acquisition, Robert Provine said: "We are delighted to be
joining ACMPL. We believe ACMH's expertise will significantly enhance our
capability as an asset manager as well as enable us to play a more active role
across our target markets."

Enquiries:

ACMH

Sean Ewing, Chairman and CEO            T: + 34 971 406018

Panmure Gordon

Dominic Morley                          T: +44 (0)20 7614 8388


Cardew Group

Tim Robertson                           T: +44 (0)20 7930 0777

Shan Shan Willenbrock

David Roach

Notes to Editors

Robert Provine

Robert is the Co-Founder and Managing Director for the management of the North
Property Fund. Robert was formerly a director of a leading privately owned
private equity and property development group with retail, hotel and residential
property investments of over Euro 1 billion in the US, UK and Central and
Eastern Europe. Robert was involved in all aspects of the business including
originating, structuring and financing property transactions for the group.
Prior to this, Robert was a Director of Consensus, a Rotch Property Group
Company with assets in excess of Euro 6 billion, where he focused on the
creation and implementation of structured financial products for owner-occupiers
including credit-driven sale and leasebacks and a proprietary trade finance
programme. Prior to Rotch, Robert spent four years at Citibank in New York where
he worked on the Mortgage Backed Securities trading desk with a product focus on
agency pass-throughs and Collateralised Mortgage Obligations ("CMO's"). Robert
holds a Joint Master's Degree in Computer Science and Business Administration
from New York University and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Magnus Lofgren

Magnus is the Co-founder and Managing Director for the management of the North
Property Fund. Between 2000 and 2006, he was responsible for European
investments at Resolution Property, a leading private property investment
company with equity of Euro 332m, focusing on value added property that offers
scope for value enhancement through active management. Magnus subsequently
became Investment Director in 2003 on the main board and has closed transactions
with an asset value in excess of Euro 700m and secured financing in excess of
Euro 1 billion.  Prior to this, Magnus worked with Skanska Central Europe, based
in Warsaw for three years, focusing on the development project financing (and
subsequent disposals) of large scale hotel and mixed use office / retails
schemes in Poland.  Magnus attended the Master of Finance course at City
University Business School and holds a Masters Degree in Property Valuation and
Finance from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

About ACMH

Absolute Capital Management Holdings Limited is a specialist fund management
company focused on delivering investment returns through the management of
absolute return funds in equities and fixed income products, since inception in
2004. The enlarged company now has offices in, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom, Singapore, Spain, Cyprus, Poland, Brazil and Argentina Post
completion the group will manage 12 funds and have in excess of US$3.25 billion
under management. ACMH listed on AIM on 3rd March 2006.

Investment track record for the 11 funds managed by ACMH

ACM Funds     AUM US$ million Annualised Performance Down Months  Launch date

Absolute
Return Europe
Fund                    490                  15.82   2 out of 63  March 2002

Absolute
European
Catalyst Fund           273                  20.29   4 out of 44  October 2003

Absolute
Germany Fund            381                  22.00   2 out of 41  January 2004

Absolute East
West Fund               222                  23.78   1 out of 23  July 2005

Absolute
Octane Fund             342                  39.49   1 out of 23  July 2005

Absolute
Large                   137                  20.96   1 out of 16  February 2006
Cap Fund

Absolute
India                    18                  17.50   0 out of 11  July 2006
Fund

Absolute
Activist
Value                   241                  31.66   0 out of 11  July 2006
Fund

Argo Fund               484                  17.77   3 out of 80  October 2000

Argo Global
Special
Situations
Fund                    455                  15.64   3 out of 34  August 2004

Argo Capital
Partners Fund            73                                       N/A

Note: Performance to 31 May 2007 and AUM as at 1July 2007

ACM Investment Achievements -

No. 1 Best Hedge Fund Group, 2006 Hedge Fund Review

No. 1 European Event Driven Fund, 2005 Eurohedge

No. 1 Risk Adjusted Long/Short Fund 2005 Barclay Group

No. 1 Germany Fund over 1, 2 and 3 years, 2004 Micropal

No. 1 European Long Short Fund, 2002 HFI

Recent nominations

No, 1 Hedge Fund Group 2007 Hedge fund Review

No 1-4 Global leaders of 2007 Alternative Investment News

NREOF

NREOF is a closed-ended investment company, incorporated on 14 July 2006 in
Guernsey. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. NRE
invests in the commercial property markets of central and Eastern Europe. These
target countries include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova. The Company's investment objective is to provide
investors with a high level of risk adjusted total returns derived principally
from rental income and capital appreciation from the acquisition, development
and active asset management of its property investments.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END
ACQUKSNRBSRBRRR

North Real (LSE:NRE)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2024 a Jun 2024

North Real (LSE:NRE)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Jun 2023 a Jun 2024