GE Real Estate Japan Establishes a Business Relationship With LCP Investment Corporation, a Listed Japanese REIT

TOKYO and STAMFORD, Conn., March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Real Estate announced today that it has agreed to a transaction with LCP Investment Corporation (LCP), a Japanese REIT and LCP REIT Advisors, Ltd. (LCPRA), LCP's asset manager, whereby (i) GE Real Estate, through a Business Cooperation Agreement with LCPRA, will provide preferential rights to negotiate the acquisition of certain qualified residential assets in GE Real Estate's portfolio, (ii) GE Real Estate and its subsidiaries sell asset portfolio to LCP, and (iii) a GE entity will acquire units in LCP.

LCP will purchase two offices and five multi-family properties located in the Tokyo metropolitan area from GE Real Estate and its subsidiaries for JPY 37.47 billion (approx. USD $309 million). Through this acquisition, LCP's assets will grow 64.3% to JPY 89.63 billion (approx. USD $740 million).

A Japanese entity of GE called, "New Mission Funding Corporation," will purchase 32,500 newly issued units in LCP for approx. JPY 14.1 billion (approx. USD $117 million).

"We are very impressed with LCP's management and expertise, and believe it has tremendous potential," noted Tomoyuki Yoshida, president of GE Real Estate Japan. "Our goal is to add larger, high quality assets to help raise the overall profile and value of this REIT. This is a great opportunity for GE Real Estate to establish a cooperative relationship with a Japanese REIT with excellent growth potential."

Shunji Miyazaki, executive officer of LCP Investment Corporation noted, "This transaction with GE Real Estate present us with a pipeline of quality assets, and are in line with our external growth strategy."

LCP will raise the rest of the required cash for the transaction through a loan from UBS, which will increase the overall leverage for the REIT to nearly 60%.

UBS Securities Japan Ltd is the sole financial advisor to GE Real Estate Japan.

GE Real Estate Japan was established in 1998 and today has net earning assets of $5 billion, with approximately 150 office buildings and 12,000 units of residential properties across the country, with offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Sapporo.

LCP Investment Corporation was incorporated in September 2005 and is managed by LCP REIT Advisors, Ltd. LCP was listed on the JREIT securities market of the Tokyo stock exchange in May 2006. LCP's portfolio consists of 36 assets, primarily residential and senior housing properties.

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  About GE Real Estate

GE Real Estate ( http://www.gerealestate.com/ ) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with US$54 billion in assets and a presence in 24 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 28% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.

GE Commercial Finance ( http://www.gecommercialfinance.com/ ) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With over US$215 billion in assets and expertise in the middle- market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) , diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.