The Board of CLS is pleased to announce the sale of One Leicester Square and Coventry House, Haymarket to Aziz Family Trust Companies, represented by Criterion Capital, for a total price of £57.2m.

One Leicester Square is a nine storey leisure and retail building occupying a prominent position on the north side of the square. It comprises 37,920 sq ft (3,523 sq m) and is let to Nickelodeon Huggins, Planright Limited, Sound Too Limited, Crest Trading and Empire Cinema. The property produces an income of £1.7m per annum and was sold for £33.7m, representing a net initial yield of 4.8%.

Coventry House, Haymarket, overlooks Piccadilly Circus and provides 18 apartments (14 of which have been sold on long leases) above a restaurant. At roof level is an electronic screen which is let on a revenue sharing basis to Clear Channel. The current income is £1.5m per annum. The property was sold for £23.5m, representing a net initial yield of 5.9%.

Overall, these sales represent a premium of £4.4m or 8.4% ahead of the December 2007 valuations. Kingly Partners and Colliers acted on behalf of CLS in respect of the sale of One Leicester Square.

We intend to hold the cash proceeds from these sales for the short to medium term.

Executive Chairman of CLS, Sten Mortstedt commented:

“We are pleased to have achieved sales of these two Central London properties. Our core investments remain principally in offices and having carried out extensive works and re-lettings at both properties, we felt it was timely to sell.”