PRESS RELEASES

Hines and AXA REIM France Sign Lease with AXALTO to Occupy Three Buildings in Meudon Campus, Project Sale Announced

9/29/2005

(MEUDON, FRANCE) – The Paris office of Hines, the international real estate firm, along with partner AXA Real Estate Investment Management Group (AXA REIM), announced today that Axalto, one of the world’s leading providers of microprocessor cards, has signed a 20,000-square-meter (215,000-square-foot) lease to occupy three buildings in Meudon Campus, a six-building complex that Hines is developing in the town of Meudon, just southwest of Paris. The 45,000-square-meter (484,000-square-foot) office development, which has a 450-meter (1,400-foot) frontage along the Seine River, is part of the overall redevelopment project of the former site of the Renault automobile factory and sits just opposite the Ile Seguin.

Meudon Campus is being developed by Hines France on behalf of the partnership formed by the Hines European Development Fund (HEDF) and AXA Corporate Solutions (a subsidiary fund of AXA REIM).

Hines also announced the sale of Meudon Campus to the Vendôme Croidor investment company (also a subsidiary of AXA REIM), which is projected to close in October 2005.

The Meudon Campus was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in association with Michel Macary (SCAU) and landscape designer Michel Desvigne.  The first phase of the project, which includes three independent buildings, will be entirely occupied by Axalto with an initial 12-year lease.  The other two office buildings, and retail structure, which together contain 23,000 square meters (248,000 square feet), are still available for lease and are scheduled for completion at the end of 2006. 

Hines France opened in Paris in 1995. Led by Olivier de Dampierre and Patrick Albrand, the 38-member project team has developed more than 150,000 square meters (1.6 million square feet) of office space, and currently has 400,000 square meters (4.3 million square feet) of office and residential property under development in the Greater Paris Region.

Hines European Development Fund (HEDF), is the first pan-European fund managed by the firm. Launched in 2002, with €450 million of equity, this fund has already invested in numerous Class A commercial and residential real estate projects in large European capital cities.

AXA REIM, whose sole shareholder is AXA IM, is an asset management company specialized in many different domains which form part of the AXA Group. With a team of 375 people managing real estate assets totaling approximately €26 billion (as of July 1, 2005) and offices in eight European countries, AXA REIM is the leader in its domain.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in developing, acquiring, leasing and managing real estate, as well as providing extensive international investment management and advisory services. The Hines portfolio of projects completed, underway, acquired and managed for third parties includes more than 800 properties representing over 285 million square feet (26 million square meters) of office, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical, sports facilities and residential properties, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. With offices in 13 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $11 billion (€8.5 billion), Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world.