TIAA-CREF Acquires Festival Place in Basingstoke, UK from Grosvenor Fund Management

NEW YORK & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TIAA-CREF and Grosvenor Fund Management today announced TIAA-CREF’s purchase of Festival Place Shopping Centre, Basingstoke, from Grosvenor Festival Place Fund.

“Festival Place fits with our long-term strategy to invest in high-quality, regionally dominant shopping centers”

The 1-million-square-foot shopping center was redeveloped by Grosvenor in 2002 and has approximately 175 shops and a 2,770-space, multistory car park. It is the dominant retail property in Hampshire and is anchored by Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and a 10-screen Vue Cinema. Other retailers include Apple, Zara, H&M, Next, River Island, Superdry, Top Shop/Top Man and BHS.

“Festival Place fits with our long-term strategy to invest in high-quality, regionally dominant shopping centers,” said Anthony Butler, director, real estate investment management at TIAA-CREF Asset Management UK Limited. “We look forward to working with the local council and community to improve the Festival Place experience for customers and retailers alike."

“The sale of Festival Place to TIAA-CREF reflects the winding-down of Grosvenor Festival Place Fund, which soon comes to the end of its life. We will now be looking to reinvest Grosvenor’s share of the sale proceeds back into the UK retail sector,” said Tony Christie, head of retail at Grosvenor Fund Management.

TIAA-CREF owns more than $18 billion of primarily high-quality properties in the office, retail, industrial and multifamily sectors across the United States, Canada and Western Europe as of March 31, 2012.

TIAA-CREF Asset Management UK Limited, located in London, is a European real estate asset management business and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TIAA-CREF. TIAA-CREF Asset Management UK Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK to conduct real estate investment advisory business on behalf of third-party professional investors.

About TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization with $481 billion in assets under management (as of 6/30/12) and is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.

Grosvenor Group

Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with offices in 18 of the world’s most dynamic cities. The Group operates and invests in three different business areas; direct proprietary investment in real estate through our Operating Companies in Britain & Ireland, the Americas and Asia Pacific; indirect proprietary investment in real estate managed by others, which is the responsibility of the holding company; and our international fund management Operating Company - Grosvenor Fund Management - which manages capital on behalf of investors. As at 31 December 2011, the Group had total assets under management of £12.5bn. Unusually for a private company, Grosvenor publishes a full Annual Report & Accounts, available at: www.grosvenor.com.

Grosvenor Fund Management

Grosvenor launched its first fund in 1976 and formally established Grosvenor Fund Management (GFM) in 2005. GFM offers a range of sector and regional specialist property investment funds which aim to deliver attractive, risk adjusted returns. Operating from offices in China, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Australia, the UK and the USA we, employ professionals with local knowledge and skills to execute our investment decisions. Aligning our interests with our partners and building long-term investor relationships is of paramount importance to us. At 31 December 2011, Funds under Management were £5.0bn with 69 investor partners in 28 property funds, club deals and separate account mandates. For further details, please see our Annual Report & Accounts available at www.grosvenor.com.

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