RNS Number:5370W
Equest Balkan Properties PLC
06 January 2006
        

                   Equest Balkan Properties plc ("EBP" / "Company")


                    EQUEST MAKES FIRST ASSET ACQUISITIONS IN
                              BULGARIA AND ROMANIA


Equest Balkan Properties plc, the property investment company focused on
commercial, retail and industrial property in South Eastern Europe and primarily
Bulgaria and Romania, is pleased to announce its first property acquisitions.
The Company's shares commenced trading on the Alternative Investment Market ("
AIM") on 14 December 2005, having raised ?140 million to invest in the target
region.

As set out in its AIM Admission Document, the Company's Investment Adviser,
Equest Partners Limited ("Investment Adviser"), had identified a number of
potential opportunities for the Company in line with the Company's investment
objectives.

The property acquisitions announced today were subject to previously obtained
exclusivity arrangements and the details are as follows:-


•               Serdika Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria.  The Serdika is currently
operated as a 3 star hotel with 131 rooms in a prime location in the city centre
of Sofia. The purchase price, payable in cash, is approximately €10 million,
including transaction costs. The current lease with a local hotel operator
expires in May 2006. The Company has entered into initial negotiations on new
terms for the lease, operation and management of the hotel with potential new
managers/operators. There is also an opportunity to refurbish the hotel as part
of the new management arrangements. Based on current market rates and the
planned refurbishment programme, the anticipated rental income should meet or
exceed the target yield of the Company.


•               An office building in the Domenii area in central Bucharest,
Romania.  The office building totalling 3,150 sq metres is fully let and was
purchased for a cash consideration of €4.75 million, including transaction
costs. The net initial yield is approximately 9.2%. The Company intends to
increase the property's rental income through a programme of active asset
management initiatives including parking space rental, service charge reviews
and renegotiation of rental levels in 2007 at contract expiry dates.

The Company continues to progress negotiations on other properties subject to
the exclusivity arrangements as outlined in the AIM Admission Document, together
with other property opportunities that have arisen subsequently.  The Company
expects to be in a position to announce further property acquisitions in due
course.

Commenting on this announcement, Petri Karjalainen, Managing Partner of Equest
Partners Limited, EBP's Investment Adviser, said:

"The acquisition of these properties so rapidly after the flotation of the
Company is extremely pleasing and we are already making good progress on active
asset management initiatives for each asset.

"We also continue to make strong progress with the negotiations on our other
targeted properties and hope to be able to update our shareholders on a number
of these transactions in the near future."


For further information please contact:


Equest Partners Limited                                 +44 20 7240 7600
Petri Karjalainen
Naomi Kora


Financial Dynamics                                       +44 20 7831 3113
Stephanie Highett
Ed Gascoigne-Pees
Dido Laurimore



Notes to Editors:

Equest Balkan Properties plc is a commercial property investment company focused
on South Eastern Europe and primarily Bulgaria and Romania.  Its investment
objectives are to invest, principally, in a range of income-producing
commercial, retail and industrial property opportunities in or around the major
cities of Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR
Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro and Turkey, where it sees such investment as
having the potential for capital appreciation.  The Company may also invest
opportunistically in late stage development projects with a capital constraint
and where it expects high rental yields.  It may also invest selectively in land
acquisitions.

Equest Partners Limited, the Company's Investment Adviser, is an independent
investment management and advisory firm regulated by the FSA.  Headquartered in
London and with offices in Sofia and Bucharest, Equest Partners comprises more
than 20 professionals with valuable experience of investing in emerging markets
and particularly Central and Eastern Europe. Equest Partners is currently one of
the largest dedicated investment and advisory companies for Bulgaria.




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