St Laurence To Sell Its Interest in Elrond Group

NZX Statement 20 September 2005

St Laurence Property & Finance To Sell Its Interest In Elrond Group Holdings Limited

St Laurence Property & Finance Limited (SLP&F) today announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement to sell all of its interest in Elrond Group Holdings Limited (Elrond) for a price of approximately NZ$16.5 million. The book value of the investment as at 31 March 2005 was approximately $4.50 million.

This price is subject to an adjustment for any changes in Elrond’s net tangible assets between signing of the agreement and settlement. Elrond will also repay a loan made to it by SLPF.

The Purchaser is Qualcare Holdings Ltd, a company owned by Elrond’s majority shareholder, Greg Tomlinson, and Ironbridge Capital, an Australasian private equity fund manager.

The agreement is conditional upon statutory and regulatory approvals, and upon Qualcare Holdings Ltd simultaneously purchasing other aged care and retirement village assets owned by Mr Tomlinson.

Settlement is expected before Christmas 2005.

Elrond owns seven retirement village sites, including aged-care facilities, in the upper North Island.

John Mallon, St Laurence Property & Finance’s chief executive says, “We are very happy with the price that has been offered for our interest in Elrond and it is consistent with our expectations for this investment.”

SLPF is an active property investor and specialist provider of property based debt and equity financing. “The proceeds from the sale of Elrond will be applied by the company to further investment and financing opportunities, with a number currently under consideration,” Mallon said.

ENDS

BACKGROUND

St Laurence Property & Finance Limited (SLP&F) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of St Laurence Holdings Limited. With offices in Sydney and Wellington, St Laurence Holdings manages more than $700 million of assets for more than 12,000 investors.

SLP&F was established in April 2000 and is an active property investment and financing company. Its activities include property investment, property projects and developments, lending and underwriting services, securities investment, and investment in property backed commercial enterprises.

SLP&F’s chairman is Kevin Podmore; he is also the managing director of parent company, St Laurence Holdings Limited, which was founded in 1994.

Fellow SLP&F director, Philip Newland, is an executive director of the St Laurence group. Philip is an experienced director who has held board positions in both public and private companies in Australia and New Zealand. He was previously group managing director of Cullen Investments, and is currently a director of the NZSX listed company, Abano Healthcare Ltd.

Independent director Quentin Hay, who was appointed to the board earlier this year, is a commercial barrister with broad experience in the finance, investment and property sectors in New Zealand. Quentin is a former senior partner in Bell Gully, a leading New Zealand law firm.

SLP&F chief executive, John Mallon, has over 13 years experience in the financial services and investment industry, including senior positions in the corporate trust division of Perpetual Trust Limited and the lending division of BNZ Finance Limited.

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