Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited announces first significant investment in Asian property markets

Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited today (Friday 6 October 2006) confirmed that it has invested c €50 million (KRW60.5 billion) on behalf of its clients in the development of the International Finance Centre in Seoul (IFC Seoul), South Korea.

IFC Seoul will be a €1.6billion class A, mixed use, commercial development. It will comprise approximately 5.7 million square feet of office, retail and entertainment facilities, including a 450 bedroom 5 star hotel. The development will be located in Yeouido, a leading financial district with an excellent transport and communications infrastructure in Seoul city centre.

The development of IFC Seoul is led by AIG Global Real Estate, a group of international companies within AIG Global Investment Group, the investment management division of American International Group, Inc. AIG Global Real Estate has invested in and actively manages over 53 million square feet of real estate in over 50 countries worldwide, with particular emphasis in Asia. AIG Global Real Estate's track record in real estate development and management in Asia and the fact that they are significant investors in the project, were key factors in the decision by Bank of Ireland to pursue this investment as an opportunity for its clients.

Commenting on the transaction, Peter Collins, Property Director, Bank of Ireland Private Banking said:

For clients seeking higher returns we have been advocates of an increased exposure to Asia for some time now. The long-term economic outlook for Asia is very positive and is supported by strong demographics, low labour costs and increased globalisation. We believe this region will be a key engine for future global growth and long term investors should be considering increasing their weighting to the region.

South Korea has demonstrated a stable and consistent economic growth environment and is now the 10th largest economy in the world. Its strategic geographic location in the middle of Japan, China and Russia means the country is ideally located to position itself as a leading financial services centre for North East Asia. Seoul now has the third largest metropolitan population in the world with 22.3 million people and is ranked only behind Mexico City (22.7m) and Tokyo (34.1m).

With a strong stable economy, an increasingly transparent and open property market and low vacancy rates for commercial property, we consider Seoul an excellent location to gain exposure to the Asian property market. IFC Seoul is an excellent example of the type of direct property investment which we think makes a lot of sense, capitalising as it does on the shortage of Class A facilities in the rapidly expanding Seoul market, added Peter Collins

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Note: An image of proposed IFC Seoul development is available on request.

Note to Editors:

Private Banking acquires and manages, on behalf of clients, institutional quality office and retail properties in selected global markets. It focuses on properties that offer strong rental growth potential and opportunities for asset management.

Contact:

Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Tel:01 604 3836 or 087 246 0358

Tess Shaw
Private Banking
Tel:01 637 8835 or 087 662 3270