The DIC Group is one of the leading investors in the German market for commercial real estate

Press Release

DIC: Location change of Evonik positive for the realisation of the MainTor project

Frankfurt, 23.10.2008

Evonik Degussa Group announced in July that it is to give up its location with 950 employees on the MainTor site in Frankfurt and to switch with larger parts of its staff to the location “Industriepark Wolfgang” in Hanau. The Group therefore inquired at DIC to prematurely terminating the lease agreement. The necessary contractual negotiations now have been successfully concluded: Evonik Degussa GmbH will terminate the contract on 31 December 2010 for a compensation fee of a noteworthy double-digit million euro sum and will move out of the site to this date. As a result, DIC will early acquire total development and decision freedom regarding the realisation of the new MainTor urban district, which therefore can also be constructed in fewer stages. At the same time, the compensation fee for the original lease term, which has already been paid, will strengthen the project's return on equity significantly. 

Ulrich Höller, Chairman of Management Board: ''This move suits us very well for two reasons: The various construction phases mean that we can carry out the project much more efficiently as the concerns of the current tenants and the relocation operations which were originally required now no longer have to be taken into account. At the same time, we can start construction work over the next few years with ongoing cashflow. Furthermore, the compensation fee has allowed us to strengthen the project's financing structure by means of further equity capital.'' 

The start of construction work is planned for mid-2009 on Weißfrauenstraße on the north side, with prime office and commercial real estate totalling alomost 20,000 m². The marketing of the new complex of buildings, which is now available for new tenants, is to start straight away. The building application is to be submitted at the beginning of next year in agreement with the relevant authorities. The second construction phase, with the WinX tower, is planned to commence immediately upon the departure of the tenant Evonik Degussa.

Further information is available on the Internet at: www.maintor-frankfurt.de

About DIC:
DIC (Deutsche Immobilien Chancen) was founded in Frankfurt in 1998 and, with its innovative investment philosophy and its focus on the German market, is one of the most prominent and successful firms in Germany specialising in commercial real estate transactions. Its business activities include portfolio and asset management, which are handled by its SDAX listed company, DIC Asset AG, as well as project development and opportunistic investments. The real estate assets managed by the DIC Group currently amount to around 3.5 billion euros. Its shareholders are investment companies, institutional investors and private investors with a family background in industry.

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