Sponda sells properties for approx. EUR 402 million


Sponda Plc           Stock Exchange Release 16 February 2007, 1.40 pm (EET)




Sponda sells properties for approx. EUR 402 million

Finnish real estate investment company Sponda Plc has today signed a binding
agreement to sell shares in certain real estate companies, real estate properties
and land sites to investment vehicles indirectly owned and controlled by two real
estate investment funds, the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds and Niam Nordic
Investment Fund III, for approximately EUR 402 million. Sponda will record a
profit of approximately EUR 15 million on the divestment. The deal covers 43
investment properties as well as almost all the Sales Properties portfolio that
Sponda gained through the Kapiteeli acquisition. The transaction is scheduled to
be completed by the end of March.

The bulk of the properties to be sold are properties and land sites located
outside Finland's largest cities that are outside Sponda's strategic focus, as
well as certain investment properties in Turku, Tampere and Oulu. The disposal is
part of Sponda's strategy to sell non-core property assets for EUR 300-500
million in order to refinance part of the short-term credit raised to finance the
Kapiteeli acquisition.

Sponda is responsible for managing the sold property portfolio.

Kari Inkinen, President and CEO of Sponda Plc: "We are delighted to have signed
the agreement as the transaction supports Sponda's strategy to concentrate in the
largest cities in Finland. Our property management business is also strengthened
as a result of the deal".

"We are very happy to enter into this transaction together with the Whitehall
Funds, our long-standing partner," says Johan Bergman, Managing Director at the
Swedish private equity firm Niam. "This acquisition is another cornerstone of the
portfolio we are building in Finland, which we see as one of our home-markets."




Sponda Plc



Further information:
Kari Inkinen, President and CEO, Sponda Plc, tel. +358 9 6805 8202, +358 400
402 653

Johan Bergman, Managing Director, Niam, tel. +46 8 5175 8595, +46 8 708 244 095

Felicia Wipp, Communication Manager, Niam, tel. +46 8 5175 8529, +46 8 708 44 30
29



Sponda Plc is a real estate company specializing in commercial properties mainly
in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Sponda's business concept is to own, lease and
develop office, retail and logistics properties into environments that promote
the business success of its clients. The fair value of Sponda's investment
properties is approximately EUR 2.6 billion euros and the leasable area is around
2 million m². Sponda is the largest real estate investment company listed on the
Helsinki Stock Exchange.

The Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, established in 1991, are a series of real
estate investment funds sponsored and managed by the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
and its affiliates. The Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds invest in real estate
and real estate related assets, principally through the acquisition of real
estate companies, real property and mortgage loans. Investments span across
various product and investment types, including retail, hospitality, office, and
residential, with interests in real-estate portfolios, non-performing loans and
corporate restructurings.

Niam Nordic Investment Fund III is a fund managed by Niam, the leading private
equity firm in Northern Europe specialising in property. Niam offer financial
investors a high return via investments in funds that in turn invest in all types
of properties. The funds are raised and managed on a discretionary basis. Since
the company was founded in 1998, properties with a total value of E3.9 billion
have been acquired by Niam's funds or in association with international real
estate funds. Today, Niam has owner responsibility for properties valued at E2
billion. Niam Nordic Investment Fund III is one of the largest property funds in
Northern Europe.