British Land has announced plans to raise one billion pounds to
take advantage of a growing number of commercial property
opportunities.

The group will target investment towards the purchase of several
retail and office properties which have come onto the market.

British Land is one of a number of property companies raising
cash to fund expansion of late. Shopping centre owner Intu
Properties recently publicized it plans to raise shareholder funds
in order to buy the Midsummer Place centre in Milton Keynes.

"British Land has a strong track record of growing returns
through accretive investment and development activity," said a
British Land spokesman.

"In recent months, the company has completed 213 million pounds
of acquisitions, and identified opportunities in its core sectors
in London and the South East."

The announcement follows an active few months for British Land,
having recently acquired the Wereldhave portfolio and London's
Hempel hotel for 180 million and 33 million pounds respectively.
Despite the recent disposal of Ropemaker Place, British Land is
continuing to recycle its cash into a London-focused development
programme.

This move is surely another positive step for the UK commercial
property sector. It was only last week that London's West End was
unveiled as the most expensive and sought-after location in the
world. With British Land's portfolio consisting of a large number
of British assets, confidence in our market is clearly rising.

"British Land's track record has been pretty good...The
Ropemaker Place sale completes the re-balancing of the London office portfolio
to 50-50 between City and West End, which has always been a
target," said Investec analyst Alan Carter.

"With cash flow into the sector and into dedicated real estate
investment trust funds, we expect it will be supported reasonably
well."

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