John Doe
Real Estate Group
Real Estate Company

Amsterdam Firm Divests of U.S. Assets

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch investment firm Security Capital - U.S. Realty, continuing with its plan to divest itself of its assets in the United States, has sold its investment in REIT City Central Retail for a net profit of $103.6 million.  The firm plans to put the money towards debt reduction and stock buyback.

According to Greg Whyte, of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'s real estate and REIT group, "It's not a huge surprise that they decided to sell their assets on the private side, in addition to those on the public side.  I think we should continue to expect that they will continue to rationalize and monetize more of their portfolio."