Starr Says It's Part Of A $900M Moscow Real Estate Sale

Starr International Company Inc., headed by Maurice Greenberg., announced today it was part of a deal with a consortium to sell off a multi-use office development project on a tract in central Moscow for $900 million.

The New York-based private investment holding company said the 6.23-acre, four-building project in a prominent area of the city was sold to KanAm Grund Kapitalanlagesellschaft mbH, a German real estate investment fund group.

Jessica Anderson, a spokesperson for Starr, said the company had bought into the property that was sold in June of 2007 when construction was underway. The development is expected to be completed in mid-2009 when KanAm will take ownership of the buildings.

Partners in the selling consortium with Starr International include Otkritie Financial Corp., a leading Russian investment bank; Deutsche Bank; Old Lane, a New York hedge fund recently acquired by Citibank; and Artha Capital, a hedge fund specializing in global emerging markets.

The Starr company announcement said the transaction "highlights Starr International's efforts to pioneer foreign investment into the Russian domestic real estate market, a booming sector in the country's economy."

Mr. Greenberg, Starr's chairman, in a statement called the deal "a unique and challenging engagement for Starr International given the firm's dynamic and international growth strategy."

He noted that the company had acquired its first real estate project in Russia and then managed its sale to KanAm, all within 10 months.

"This demonstrates the development's strong and appealing design and construction management quality. We are delighted to work with our top-ranked partners as investors in the development and sale of this important project in Moscow," Mr. Greenberg said.

According to Starr, the four Class-A office buildings have over one million square feet of space and are located in the Paveletskaya business area.

The site plans call for parking for approximately 1,000 cars plus immediate access to the Paveletskaya train station which links central Moscow with Domodedovo International Airport with its express train service.

The project developer is Otkritie Nedvizhimost (Real Estate). Strabag AG of Austria is the general contractor. Jones Lang LaSalle and Knight Frank have been appointed co-leasing agents for the four office buildings which are expected to be fully leased before their completion.

Starr International acquired its substantial shareholding in the Paveletskaya project through its wholly-owned subsidiary Starr Investments Cayman I Inc.

Incorporated in Panama in 1943, Starr International reports it has $20 billion in assets worldwide. KanAm is a private real estate company with offices in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Atlanta. Otkritie Financial Corporation is a Russian financial institution operating in the ten largest cities in Russia and in representative offices in London, Frankfurt and Limassol. It services institutional, corporate and individual investors.