Sponda to build office building for Evli in City-Center complex


Sponda to build office building for Evli in City-Center complex

Real estate investment company Sponda Plc and Evli Bank Plc have signed the
lease for an office building to be built in the City-Center complex in
Helsinki. Evli Bank Plc will concentrate its head office functions in the new
building that will be completed in summer 2010. The office building, with a
floor space of 4200 square metres, is being leased in its entirety to Evli Bank
Plc. Construction work on the office block, which will rise in the heart of the
City-Center property, will start at the beginning of 2009. 

The new building is part of Sponda's City-Center project, for which the total
investment value is estimated at some EUR 110 million. The first phase,
renovating the underground basement facilities and part of the commercial
premises on the first and second floor, was completed in May 2007. The whole
project is expected to be ready in 2011. 

“The new office building relates to the expansion of the City-Center commercial
and office premises. After the renovation the property will provide a total of
55,600 square metres of leasable premises. The lease signed now will make it
possible to complete the renovation of City-Center complex on the planned
scale, keeping to the original schedule,” states Kari Inkinen, President and
CEO of Sponda Plc. 

“This is the ideal solution for our operations and customer service. We can
continue at our current address in the heart of the city, but still enjoy the
benefits of new, modern office premises. City-Center will enable us to carry
out our growth strategy in the long term,” says Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Evli
Bank Plc. 


Sponda Plc


Further information: 

Sponda Plc
Ossi Hynynen, Senior Vice President, Office and Retail Premises 
Tel. +358 400-701 030

Evli Bank Plc
Maunu Lehtimäki, Chief Executive Officer
Tel. +358 50-553 3000 


Sponda Plc is a real estate company specializing in commercial properties in
the largest cities in Finland and in Russia. 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 2.3 billion euros and
the leasable area is around 1.3 million m². Sponda is the largest real estate
investment company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. 

Evli Bank Plc is an independent investment bank whose clients are
entrepreneurs, corporate executives and investment professionals. Evli's
primary market is the Baltic Sea region. In this area, the company operates in
Finland, Sweden, the Baltic countries and Poland. Evli also has offices in
Luxembourg and through its joint venture Nordic Partners, Inc. in New York.
Evli Group's equity capital totals EUR 65.6 million and the BIS capital
adequacy ratio stood at 15.7% on 30 June 2007. Evli Group employs approximately
340 people, with some 240 of these working at the Helsinki office.