KEIF Kenmore Euro

 

TIDMKEIF 
 
RNS Number : 4362E 
Kenmore Euro Industrial Fund Ltd 
21 December 2009 
 

21 December 2009 
Kenmore European Industrial Fund Limited ("KEIF"/"Fund"/"Company") 
Acquisition of investment manager 
Following the Board's recent announcement regarding the administration of 
Kenmore Property Group Limited ("KPG") and a number of its subsidiaries, the 
Board (the "Board") is pleased to announce that the continuity of the management 
of the Fund's assets has been secured. 
Subject to regulatory approval, the Company's Investment Manager, Kenmore 
Financial Services Limited ("KFSL"), will be acquired by Tamar Capital Holdings 
Cooperatief U.A. ("Tamar Capital"). Tamar Capital is ultimately owned by the 
family interests of Joe Lewis. Tamar Capital, and its associates, has agreed to 
acquire part of KPG's European asset management business from the administrative 
receivers of KPG, with effect from early January 2010. This includes KFSL and 
the management team involved in the management of the Fund's portfolio, 
including Rob Brook, as well as KPG's operating subsidiaries in France, Germany, 
Sweden, Norway and Finland. 
Following the purchase by Tamar Capital, the Fund's existing investment 
management arrangements will continue on substantially the same terms, with the 
commercial terms unchanged. Further details on Tamar Capital are set out below. 
As announced on 26 November 2009, Brockland, Inc., a company ultimately owned by 
a Joe Lewis family trust, has also acquired a 7.5% equity stake in KEIF. It is 
expected that Brockland, Inc., and its associates, will maintain a significant 
long term stake in KEIF. 
Tamar Capital 
Tamar Capital is a newly incorporated Netherlands company established for the 
purpose of acquiring part of the European asset management business of KPG. The 
business to be acquired by Tamar Capital, and its associates, comprises 32 
employees and has offices in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo 
and Helsinki. 
The chief executive of Tamar Capital will be Rob Brook, who will remain the lead 
fund manager to KEIF and will be responsible for "end to end" strategy across 
all aspects of the fund management.  Rob will be supported by Chris Pope, head 
of the Tamar Capital French office, and the rest of the Tamar Capital team. Ron 
Robson will be appointed as finance director of Tamar Capital. Tamar Capital has 
put in place arrangements to incentivise the managers of KEIF's portfolio over 
the longer term. 
Mr Lewis is a British citizen and a Bahamian resident who, together with his 
family, owns a wide range of international business interests through the 
Tavistock Group, including real estate, financial services, life science 
businesses and several restaurant brands in the United States. Within the 
property sector the Tavistock Group own a significant number of commercial and 
residential investments, including master planned property developments in the 
United States, the Bahamas and Jamaica. Richard McGuire, a director of the 
Tavistock Group, will also join the board of Tamar Capital. 
In the United Kingdom, the Tavistock Group has significant investments in 
Mitchells and Butlers plc, a publicly listed leisure company and operator of 
managed pubs and restaurants, as well as Tottenham Hotspur plc. 
Balance Sheet 
As announced in the Company's recent Interim Management Statement, the Company 
had headroom under its existing bank facilities as at 30 September 2009 of 
approximately 11 per cent. The Investment Manager has successfully disposed of 
properties during the recent downturn, with the aim of ensuring that the loan to 
value covenants are not breached. Approximately EUR170 million of assets have 
been disposed of (pre disposal costs) since February 2008. A EUR53 million loan 
is repayable in October 2010 and a further EUR67 million is repayable in April 
2011. 
With the benefit of the Investment Manager's strong existing relationships with 
banks, its solid record to date of disposing of assets, and its improved 
stability and financial resources and continued service commitment to the 
Company, the Board is considering a number of options regarding the refinancing 
of the Company's bank facilities. It is a priority of the Board to address the 
Company's capital structure, including its bank financing arrangements, and for 
the Company to be potentially in a position to capitalise on opportunities to 
acquire assets over the medium to long term. 
New name 
At the next general meeting of the Fund, it is expected that a resolution will 
be proposed to rename the Fund "Tamar European Industrial Fund Limited", to 
reflect the new branding of the Fund's Investment Manager. 
Possible offer 
As announced on 25 November 2009, the Board of KEIF confirmed it received a very 
preliminary approach from Hansteen Holdings plc, expressing an interest in 
formulating an offer for the Company. No due diligence has taken place and there 
can be no certainty that an offer for the Company will be made.  The Board will 
inform shareholders regarding developments as appropriate. 
Giles Weaver, Chairman of KEIF, commented: 
"Following the recent uncertainties resulting from the administration of Kenmore 
Property Group, it is very pleasing to announce that we have secured the ongoing 
services of Rob Brook and his team, with the full backing of the Tavistock 
Group. 
"The assets in our portfolio are located in a number of jurisdictions 
across Europe. Since KEIF's inception, we have greatly benefitted from the 
Investment Manager's specialist sector knowledge and 'on-the-ground' intensive 
asset management approach. These skills and local relationships have also been a 
key factor in the success of both our income-enhancing asset management 
initiatives, and our recent disposals programme, largely targeted at 
owner-occupiers and private investors known to the management team. 
"We greatly look forward to working with Tamar Capital to preserve and create 
value across our portfolio of assets on behalf of all shareholders." 
 
 
For further information, please contact: 
Tamar Capital 
 Rob Brook/Ron Robson 
 Tel: 020 7629 4480 
J.P. Morgan Cazenove 
 Robert Fowlds/Bronson Albery/ Edward 
Gibson-Watt 
 Tel: 020 7588 2828 
Financial Dynamics 
 Stephanie Highett/Dido Laurimore/Olivia Goodall 
 Tel: 
020 7831 3113 
 
 
Responsibility 
The directors of KEIF accept responsibility for the information contained in 
this announcement and, to the best of their knowledge and belief (having taken 
all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case), the information contained 
in this announcement is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything 
likely to affect the import of such information. 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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