Minerva PLC - New Contract Announcement

RNS Number:0243S
Minerva PLC
10 April 2008

10th April 2008

Minerva signs £150m construction contract with Skanska for St Botolphs
Development

Minerva plc ("Minerva") today announces that it has signed a £150 million
construction contract with Skanska for the Company's St Botolphs development.
Skanska has commenced the enabling works on the site.

St Botolphs will provide 560,000 square feet of high quality Grade A office and
retail accommodation in the City of London. The scheme has been designed by
leading architects, Grimshaw, and is due for completion in 2010.

In January, Minerva announced that it had pre-let 84,000 square feet of office
space at St Botolphs, with an option to take a further 40,000 square feet at a
later date, to global insurance broker Lockton International Limited, to provide
their new European Headquarters.

Funding is in place with HSH Nordbank and Landesbank Berlin to provide
development finance for the project.

Commenting on today's announcement;

Tim Garnham, Minerva's Group Development Director said:

"We are delighted that Skanska will be working with us on St Botolphs. With a
construction contract now signed, a significant pre-let agreed and funding in
place, we look forward to delivering the St Botolphs development into the market
on schedule in 2010."

Dave Shadwell, Senior Vice President, Skanska Construction Private Operating
Unit:

"St Botolphs is a very exciting scheme and we are delighted to be involved in
its development alongside Minerva. We have an excellent long term relationship
with the company and are looking forward to delivering another stunning
development for them."

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Enquiries:

Minerva plc:
Salmaan Hasan, Chief Executive +44 (0)20 7535 1000
Ivan Ezekiel, Finance Director
Tim Garnham, Group Development Director

Brunswick Group LLP:
Simon Sporborg +44 (0)20 7404 5959
Tom Williams

About Minerva plc

Minerva plc is a property investment and development company whose principal
strategy is to create shareholder wealth through investment and development of
real estate in the UK.

The group has three landmark schemes, all of which have been granted planning
approval. Two of these are situated in London's financial district, The City of
London. The first of these is The Walbrook a 445,000 sq. ft. office development
designed by Foster and Partners. The second is St Botolphs, a landmark 14 storey
office building comprising circa. 560,000 sq. ft. and designed by Grimshaw. The
third landmark development, Park Place, will be one of the United Kingdom's
largest shopping centres, located in Croydon, Greater London.

Minerva's property portfolio also includes the Kensington Odeon and Lancaster
Gate, two high - end residential developments both situated in sought after
London catchment areas and The Ram Brewery in the heart of Wandsworth, London -
a six acre site that will be developed as a significant mixed use scheme. Most
recently, the company acquired a further residential development opportunity,
the Leinster House Hotel, located in Central London.

About Skanska

Skanska is one of the world's leading construction groups with expertise in
construction, development of commercial and residential projects and
public-private partnerships. The Group currently has 60,000 employees in
selected home markets in Europe, in the US and Latin America. Headquartered in
Stockholm, Sweden and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Skanska's sales in
2007 totalled SEK 139 billion.

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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