The Metro Shopping Fund ('Metro' / 'Fund'), the 50/50 London retail joint venture between Land Securities Group PLC ('Land Securities') and Delancey announces the acquisition of the Southside, Wandsworth, London SW18 from Wandsworth LP a joint venture between Portfolio Holdings, Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Deutsche Bank Real Estate's Global Opportunities Fund for £188m. The purchase price reflects an equivalent yield of 5.75%.

Southside comprises a 530,000 sq ft (49,237 sq m) shopping centre incorporating retail, leisure, and office accommodation, with five residential blocks above, and an adjoining 1,180 multi-storey car park. The wide ranging retail offer includes Waitrose, Next, H&M, Primark and HMV, a 14 screen cinema let to Cineworld and a Virgin Active healthclub.

The purchase of Southside represents the first acquisition by Metro since its formation in June 2004 taking the total size of the fund to over £0.5bn and the total square footage of the Fund�s assets to nearly 1 million sq ft (92,900 sq m) across five London retail assets. The other assets owned by Metro are Shopstop @ Clapham Junction, N1 Islington, Victoria Place, SW1 and Notting Hill Gate W11.

Commenting on behalf of the Metro Shopping Fund, Anna-Louise Lancaster said:

�This is a significant purchase for the Metro Shopping Fund and is consistent with the Fund�s strategy to acquire and manage assets which provide extensive opportunities for growth.

�Across the Metro portfolio we are working to capitalise on Delancey�s and Land Securities� expertise in the London market to develop a tenant profile which matches the requirements of the centre�s customers and thereby maximising the performance of the asset.�

Tim Haden-Scott added:

�The purchase of Southside provides the Metro Shopping Fund with the critical mass which is so important to maximise opportunities for our tenants and fully exploit the synergies across the portfolio.

�We are continuing to pursue opportunities to grow the Fund further through new purchases or through the addition of third party investors with the aim of building it to a value of over £1 billion.�

Metro has acquired Southside at an important phase in the centre�s evolution. It is part way through a programme of redevelopment and improvement which will transform the centre into a major south west London shopping and leisure destination. Southside has already experienced a noticeable makeover in recent years by the arrival of a large number of new retailers spearheaded by Waitrose. Metro�s approach to the next phase will be to further enhance the environment by focusing on a closer alignment of the retail offer to the surrounding affluent catchment. Metro will also target an improvement to the physical environment of the centre, creating an outward looking centre that integrates with the local high street and surrounding area.

The Metro Shopping Fund was advised by Dalgleish and Angermann Goddard & Lloyd. Strutt & Parker acted on behalf of the vendor.

For more information, please contact:

Emma Denne/Melissa Winsor
Land Securities Group PLC
Tel: +44 (0)20 7413 9000

Sally Hands
Delancey
Tel: +44 (0)20 7448 1448

Dido Laurimore/Stephanie Highett
Financial Dynamics (for Delancey)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113

Notes to Editors

Metro Shopping Fund

Formed in June 2004, Metro Shopping Fund Limited is a 50/50 Limited Partnership between Delancey and Land Securities Group PLC. The joint venture, which has dedicated management to provide asset, corporate and property management services, is designed to maximise long-term value from the portfolio�s assets in order to leverage economies of scale and enhance value creation opportunities. The portfolio includes Southside, Wandsworth, Shopstop @ Clapham Junction, N1 Islington, Victoria Place, SW1 and Notting Hill Gate W11.

Delancey

Delancey provides real estate related advisory and management services to a variety of clients in respect of a broad range of assets varying from individual property investments and developments throughout the UK to corporate investments. The Group's investment strategies are based upon four fundamental criteria: of underlying quality of assets, liquidity, provision of stable cashflows and capital growth potential.

Land Securities Group PLC

Land Securities is a FTSE100 company, quoted on the London Stock Exchange. It has been at the forefront of the UK�s commercial property industry for over 60 years. Today, the Group maintains its market leading position as the UK�s largest quoted property company by providing commercial accommodation and property services to a wide range of occupiers. The Group�s objective is to create attractive, sustainable returns for its shareholders through a strategy of investing in commercial property in markets and activities where it has expertise and operational skills, where it can benefit from its risk management skills and the active recycling of capital.

Land Securities holds a market leading position in three areas of the UK commercial property market:

Retail property,

London offices and

Property outsourcing.

Its £10 billion combined investment portfolio includes over 10 million sq feet of office and retail space in Central London and 28 shopping centres and 30 retail parks located across the UK.

It has a substantial development programme with a number of development projects including major retail-led urban regeneration schemes and Central London mixed-use developments. The Group is also masterplanning one of Europe�s largest regeneration schemes in Kent Thameside.

The Group leads the market in property outsourcing where, through Land Securities Trillium, it provides accommodation and property-related services to the Department for Work and Pensions, the BBC, Norwich Union, Barclays Bank, DVLA and through a joint venture, Telereal, to BT.

The Group is committed to environmental initiatives and community involvement recognised by the Group�s inclusion in the BiTC Corporate Responsibility Index, FTSE4Good Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.