Calyon and Société Générale select Pacific Place new finance tenants reinforce Pacific Place's position as premium commercial location | Press Release

04 Jul 2005

Calyon and Société Générale select Pacific Place new finance tenants reinforce Pacific Place's position as premium commercial location

Swire Properties (4 July, 2005) today announced that Société Générale and Calyon confirmed an additional 8,500 sq ft of office space at Three Pacific Place and 12,900 sq ft at Two Pacific Place, respectively.

This brings a total of over 330,000 sq ft of newly leased office space in Pacific Place over the past six months, 50% of which has been taken up by the finance and banking sector.

"Pacific Place has benefited from its position as the premium commercial hub and the growth of multinational companies' increasing business in Hong Kong," said Mr. Jolyon Culbertson, Director and General Manager of Swire Properties.

Société Générale Group, a leader in financial services in the euro-zone, has committed to occupy a total of over 75,000 sq ft on the top floors of Three Pacific Place, making it the largest tenant in the building.

Calyon, the corporate and investment bank of Credit Agricole Group, the French major banking group and second worldwide bank by equity size, will occupy a total of more than 76,000 sq ft at Two Pacific Place. This office expansion results from the merger of Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI) and Credit Lyonnais (CL), which created Calyon in May 2004.

"The advanced building specifications and top-grade facilities of Pacific Place meet the specific needs of finance and banking industry to run their business in a reliable and hassle-free environment." added Mr. Culbertson.

"Three Pacific Place is the ideal address for our regional flagship headquarters." said Mr. Thierry Weidenmann, Chief Operating Officer, Société Générale Hong Kong. "Our group needs more space in Hong Kong as the base for our ambitious business expansion in Asia Pacific. Our staff will benefit from the hub location and added-value facilities of Pacific Place".

"Pacific Place is truly a world-class property conveniently located in a transportation hub, providing well-designed floor configuration and first-class technical capabilities for modern business operations", commented Mr. Giles Allein, CEO Asia Pacific of Calyon. "Therefore we have selected Two Pacific Place as our Hong Kong branch and regional hub for our 13-country network in Asia Pacific."

CLSA, the first brokerage house in the region and Calyon's investment banking arm is also located at One Pacific Place. This proximity has been an additional reason for their choice.

In addition to the expansion of Société Générale and Calyon, a number of other banks have recently arrived in Pacific Place: China Construction Bank; Industrial Bank of Korea and Mashreq Bank.

Further to these commitments, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu committed to about 148,000 sq ft of One Pacific Place in March. The deal represents almost 20% of One Pacific Place and the largest single transaction of Grade-A offices in the Central Business District in the past 18 months.

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About Swire Properties

Swire Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific Limited, was incorporated in 1972 and is one of Hong Kong's leading developers with extensive experience in the development and management of major commercial, retail and residential properties. The company's strategy has been to 'hub' its investment property holdings around major shopping centres and office towers constructed at the principal Mass Transit Railway intersections.

Swire Properties' investment portfolio in Hong Kong principally comprises office and retail premises in prime locations, as well as serviced apartments and other luxury residential accommodation. The completed managed portfolio totals over 12 million sq ft of gross floor area. Current investment property pending or under development in Hong Kong comprises a further 2.58 million sq ft, mainly of office space.

Visit Swire Properties web site at www.swireproperties.com

About Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking

Société Générale CIB, the Corporate and Investment Banking arm of the Société Générale Group. Present in over 45 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific, Société Générale CIB is a reference bank specialising in:

Capital markets. A top ten player in debt and equity segments (bonds, securitisations, syndicated loans, equity-linked and equity issues).
Derivatives. Among the world leaders in equity derivatives and in many interest rate, credit, foreign exchange and commodities derivatives.
Structured Finance. A worldwide leader in export, project and structured commodity finance.

Backed by worldwide expertise and an extensive network in 13 countries in Asia Pacific, Société Générale CIB has built prime investment banking operations to become a leading regional player in derivatives, structured finance and debt capital market. Société Générale CIB combines in Asia Pacific both global and local strengths to provide corporate clients, financial institutions and private investors with value-added integrated financial solutions. Hong Kong is SG's structured finance regional hub and provides leading capabilities in project finance, export finance, syndication, debt capital markets and credit derivatives. Hong Kong is also the major centre for SG's equity derivatives business with market leading warrants and structured products. Société Générale Group also provides a worldwide expertise ranging from equity advisory and M&A to private banking, asset management and futures. www.sgcib.com

About Calyon

Calyon is the Corporate and Investment Bank of Crédit Agricole Group, France's leading banking group. Calyon was created in 2004 from the merger between Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Crédit Lyonnais' Corporate and Investment Banking division.

Backed by Crédit Agricole Group's credit ratings (S&P AA-, Moody's Aa2) and financial solidity (total assets of € 815Bio and total capital funds of € 48Bio), Calyon is positioned as a major player in financial markets around the world. With a staff of 18,000 employees in more than 60 countries, Calyon is a specialist in capital markets, investment banking and financing activities.

In Asia Pacific, Calyon has a 13-country network with its regional hub located in Hong Kong. With experts in every country, Calyon has a recognized strength in structured finance and capital markets products. www.calyon.com

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