07.11.2011 Messe Frankfurt purchases congress centre in Frankfurt's Europaviertel district

Frankfurt emerges as leading congress city

The deal for the purchase and operation of the congress centre in Frankfurt's Europaviertel district has been sealed. Messe Frankfurt will be the owner and operator of the building at the Skyline Plaza complex. Representatives of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, CA Immo Deutschland GmbH and project development company ECE signed the necessary contracts at a notary's office.

"The new congress centre marks an important expansion of Messe Frankfurt's range in this event segment. Existing space has been booked up and we are now tapping into additional customer segments for one of our core activities in the high-growth congress and convention sector. The events that will take place in the new building, in addition to the conventions and conferences held at the Congress Center on our exhibition grounds, represent yet another example of Messe Frankfurt's growth-oriented approach," says Wolfgang Marzin, President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt.

Bernhard H. Hansen, CEO of CA Immo Deutschland GmbH emphasises: "The realisation of the congress centre not only means delivering on our commitment laid out in the municipal development contract, which we are delighted to do, we are also creating another highlight in Europaviertel by pairing it with the Skyline Plaza shopping centre. Today Europaviertel's many hotels, pioneering office buildings and high-calibre apartments already make the area synonymous with international diversity, sustainability and growth. The congress centre is another clear step in this direction."
Jens Hintze, ECE Project Manager, adds: "The congress centre is an ideal addition to Skyline Plaza. It attracts additional customers to the shopping centre while also offering a very attractive environment for congress participants. We are delighted that Messe Frankfurt, with its long-standing experience in the congress business, is assuming responsibility for the building and its operation."

"It certainly was no easy task that all the parties embarked on. A good outcome was reached for everyone in the end that balanced all interests and business objectives well," says Uwe Behm, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt.

The congress centre is to be completed by autumn 2013 at the same time as the neighbouring shopping centre, Skyline Plaza. It will offer halls of different capacities across three floors and a mezzanine level. The plans were coordinated between Messe Frankfurt and joint venture partners ECE and CA Immo and implemented by the ECE architects. To complement the Congress Center on the exhibition grounds, event organisers will also have access to spaces to accommodate 100 or 150 people in the new congress centre, meaning that more smaller rooms will be available, as well as spaces that can be partitioned. The building will also meet strict sustainability standards; DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) certification is being sought.

Messe Frankfurt contact for queries:
Markus Quint
Phone +49 69 75 75-59 05
Fax +49 69 75 75-58 83
markus .quint messefrankfurt .com
www.messefrankfurt.com

CA Immo contact for queries:
Markus Diekow
CA Immo Deutschland GmbH – Corporate Communications
Phone +49 69 606 27 115
markus .diekow caimmo .de
www.caimmo-deutschland.de

ECE Project Management contact for queries:
Christian Stamerjohanns
ECE Project Management
Phone +49 40 60606-6898
pre sse ece .de
www.ece.de


Background information on Messe Frankfurt
Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s leading trade fair organiser, with 448.3 million euros in sales and more than 1,600 active employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international Sales Partners, giving it a presence for its customers in more than 150 countries. Events “made by Messe Frankfurt” take place at more than 30 locations around the globe. In 2010, Messe Frankfurt organised 87 trade fairs, of which more than half took place outside Germany.
Messe Frankfurt’s exhibition grounds, featuring 578,000 square metres, are currently home to ten exhibition halls and an adjacent Congress Center. The company is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent.

Background information on Congress Frankfurt
Congress Frankfurt is a part of Messe Frankfurt Venue GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt GmbH. Its responsibilities include marketing the grounds for conventions and congresses.
As a service division, Congress Frankfurt offers event organisers tailor-made space solutions. The facilities available to congress organisers at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds include the Congress Center, Festhalle, Forum and Portalhaus as well as the exhibition halls. There are a total of 80 congress and meeting rooms with seating capacity for 22,000 people as well as additional exhibition spaces. The largest room can accommodate 9,500 people, the large congress hall is versatile and can accommodate up to 2,200 people.

Background information on CA Immo
CA Immo Deutschland is part of the European real estate investment group CA Immo, which is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. With property assets totalling roughly EUR 5 billion, CA Immo Group is amongst Europe's largest real estate companies. The Group's core expertise centres on two areas: Managing its portfolio of properties and project development from creating first-class real estate to entire city districts.
CA Immo Deutschland, formerly known under the brand Vivico, has specialised in developing mixed-use city districts. Examples include Arnulfpark® in Munich, Europaviertel in Frankfurt, Zollhafen in Mainz, BelsenPark® in Dusseldorf or Berlin's Europacity. Through its acquisition of construction management specialist omniCon, CA Immo has further expanded its expertise in this area.

Background information on ECE – a strong partner
Since 1965, ECE has been developing, planning, realising, letting and managing large shopping centres and is now active in 16 countries with 140 shopping galleries under management. In all the ECE centres combined, roughly 15,000 retail shop tenants generate roughly EUR 16 billion annually across a retail space of approximately 4.4 million square metres. These centres include Berlin's Potsdamer Platz Arkaden, the promenades in Leipzig's central station, the Alstertal shopping centre in Hamburg and Rhein-Galerie in Ludwigshafen. 19 additional shopping centres are under construction or in the planning stage across Europe, including Forum Mittelrhein in Koblenz, Skyline Plaza in Frankfurt am Main, Milaneo in Stuttgart or Marmara Park in Istanbul, Turkey. ECE's Office, Traffic and Industries divisions also realise other commercial projects, such as the Philips Germany headquarters in Hamburg, the ThyssenKrupp district in Essen or the Steigenberger Hotel at the new Berlin capital airport, BER.