GE Real Estate Investissement France ("GEREIF") is pleased to announce the success of its offer of Sophia.
The French market authority, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), issued a press release on 28 January 2004 to announce that GEREIF has secured
- 88.84% of Sophia’s share capital
- 96.78% of the voting rights
- 66 % of the convertible bonds
Olivier Piani, President, GE Real Estate Europe, commented:
“We are pleased with the successful completion of our offer for Sophia. This acquisition provides us with a high quality team and establishes GE Real Estate as a leader in the French and European real estate markets.”
As indicated in the offer document, GEREIF is still considering its options with regard to a potential delisting of Sophia from the French stock exchange. At this time, however, GEREIF has not made any plans to this effect.
As required by article 7 of the COB regulation 2002-04, the current document was submitted to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers before its distribution.
Copies of the prospectus relating to GEREIF’s Offer for Sophia, registered under visa n° 03-1049 by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers on November 26, 2003, are available upon request and free of charge from Lazard Frères Banque (121, boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris) and GE Real Estate Investissement France (24, rue Cambacérès, 75008 Paris) and on the website of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (http://amf-france.org).
Contacts
Should you require further information, please contact:
Financial Dynamics |
Jean-Benoît Roquette / Emma Rutherford |
+33 [0]1 47 03 68 10 |
Notes to editors
GE Real Estate Investissement France is a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Real Estate Europe. It was specifically created to undertake this transaction.
GE Real Estate is a business unit of GE Commercial Finance, headquartered in the United-States, in Stamford, Connecticut, and is one of the industry's leading global resources for commercial real estate capital. With a global portfolio of €25 billion, it provides structured finance, equity and capital markets products. Backed by over 30 years of global experience, its European presence is supported by seven regional offices, located in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Central Europe and Sweden. GE Real Estate in Europe has current investments of over €5.3 billion.
GE Commercial Finance GE Commercial Finance offers businesses of all sizes an array of financial services and products worldwide. With approximately US $200 billion (183bn euros) in assets and an expertise in the mid-market segment, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow.
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology and services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.
Present in Europe for over 50 years, today, GE has 72,000 employees in businesses located in every European country, ranging from aircraft engines and power systems to lighting, medical diagnostic equipment and appliances, with annual sales of US $26 billion in 2002.
Active in France for 50 years, GE confirmed its presence and growth with numerous investments in sectors such as healthcare, energy, financial services and more recently replaceable energies, industrial fluids, measurement tools and electronic security systems. France is also the country where one of the most prestigious international partnerships was conceived with the creation in 1974 of CFM International split 50/50 between GE and Snecma, the world leader in civil aircraft engines for over 100 capacity. Every activity sector of GE is represented in France where GE employs 9,500 people. Activities in France generated 6bn euros for a turnover of 3bn euros. France welcomes three excellence centres, in the healthcare sector, energy sector and plastics sector, 3 European headquarters and 6 production sites.
