€200 Million to be Invested in New Conference, Hot

A new congress, hotel and office building is to be built in Stockholm close by the City Hall where the Nobel Prizes are presented. The conference building will be of international status and will affect the whole European conference market. The developers of the building are a consortium consisting of Niam Fund III, Cargill Value Investment and Jarl Asset Management.

The building will stand at the water’s edge directly adjoining the Central Station with its express rail link to Arlanda International Airport. Rezidor SAS will operate and develop the congress and hotel building, which will add Stockholm to an exclusive group of world cities that can stage very large meetings in the heart of the city.

A total of about €200 million will be invested in the project, and construction is planned to start in the autumn of 2007. The first tenants are expected to move into the office building in the autumn of 2009. The office building will include all the facilities required to meet the highest international standards, including restaurants, shops, a gymnasium and modern security precautions. The congress and hotel section will be completed in 2010. The congress hall will have a maximum capacity of 3,000 people and banqueting facilities for 2,000 guests.

“This is a unique project,” says Christer Olofsson, Partner in Jarl Asset Management, which conceived the project and is responsible for its execution. “There are only a handful of cities that can offer comparable capacity, a comparably central location, comparably good communications and such a fantastically beautiful site.”

Rezidor SAS has signed a 20-year contract to operate and develop the hotel and conference building as part of its Park Inn chain. The new building will become the Park Inn chain’s world flagship.

“At Niam we are very pleased to be contributing to making this project possible,” says Urban Edenström, Chairman of Niam, which is one of the two main owners. “The building will become Scandinavia’s new meeting place and will have a long-term positive effect on Stockholm. We also look forward to being able to offer offices of international class.”

“It is an honour to be part of the consortium developing such a unique project in central Stockholm,” says Philip Marker, Managing Director of Cargill Value Investment. “This combination of hotel, conference centre and offices will develop the area and central Stockholm in general.”

For further information contact:
Christer Olofsson, Partner, Jarl Asset Management, +46 8 501 055 00 or +46 70 641 72 00
Felicia Wipp, Communication Manager, Niam +46 8 517 585 29 or +46 708 44 30 29
Kristina Windset, Rezidor SAS Hospitality, +46 70 590 86 38

About Niam:
Niam is the leading private equity firm in Northern Europe specialising in property. Niam offer financial investors a high return via investments in funds that in turn invest in all types of properties. The funds are raised and managed on a discretionary basis. Since the company was founded in 1998, properties with a total value of €2.9 billion have been acquired by Niam’s funds or in association with international real estate funds. Today, Niam has owner responsibility for properties valued at €1.4 billion. Niam has three fully invested funds. Niam Fund III has an investment capacity of approximately €1.8 billion. 
www.niam.se

About Cargill Value Investment:
Cargill Value Investment is a subsidiary of Cargill inc, which is one of the world’s largest privately owned companies with interests in the food and agricultural sector. 
www.cargillvalueinvestment.com

About Jarl Asset Management:
Jarl Asset Management is an investment and property development company whose business is acquiring, developing and managing properties in association with selected major investors.
www.jarlam.se

About Rezidor SAS:
Rezidor SAS Hospitality is one of the world’s fastest-growing hotel companies. It currently owns 279 hotels with over 56,000 rooms in use or under development in 50 countries, and has a target of owning 700 hotels by 2015.

Rezidor SAS operates Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, Regent International Hotels, the Park Inn chain, Country Inns & Suites, and Hotel Missoni, which is the company’s new venture, consisting of a chain of lifestyle hotels. The first Hotel Missoni hotels will open in Edinburgh, Dubai and Kuwait in 2007. Rezidor SAS is 75% owned by the SAS Group and 25% by Carlson Hotels Worldwide.www.rezidorsas.com