Ariadne Acquires Orams Marine Village In New Zealand

Diversified property and investment group Ariadne Australia Limited (ASX: ARA) today announced its intention to acquire the Orams Marine Village in Auckland for NZ$43 million.

The transaction is conditional on receiving consent from the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.

Ariadne has entered into the transaction with a group of private investors and will retain a 50% shareholding and a long-term management contract for the marine services centre.

Orams Marine Village is located in the Western Viaduct area within one kilometre of the Auckland CBD and comprises:

• A 350 vessel dry stack
• An international super-yacht slip way
• A vessel repair yard
• A full marine service centre where the repair, maintenance and rebuilding of vessels can take place across 30 tenancies
• A conference/departure lounge and associated facilities

Ariadne CEO Murray Boyte said the purchase is a milestone achievement for the company, which has been actively investigating opportunities in the marina sector.

"This transaction fits neatly within Ariadne's strategic objective of investment in, and management of, marina and marine service groups," Mr Boyte said.

"Until recently, our focus has been establishing our marina interests along the eastern seaboard of Australia, including the Gold Coast, Port Macquarie and Bateman's Bay in New South Wales.

"We are now focusing on expanding these interests at an international level."

The trading businesses of Orams Marine Sales Limited – Riviera Sports NZ Limited, Orams Marine Fairline Limited (owned and operated by Neven Barbour and Kip and Lyn Kempthorne) and Orams Marine Services Limited (owned and operated by Craig Park) – are not part of the sale and will continue to operate on the site under long-term lease arrangements.

Mr Boyte said the Kempthornes have successfully built Orams Marine Village into a world-class international facility over the past 32 years.

"Through Kip and Lyn's efforts and professionalism, they have built and enjoyed an enviable, world-class reputation for servicing super-yachts," Mr Boyte said.

Kip Kempthorne said he thoroughly endorsed Ariadne's strategic plan of further developing the Orams brand and systems at an international level.

"Lyn and I believe Ariadne has the management ability and depth to take Orams to the next level," Mr Kempthorne said. "We also wish to acknowledge the importance of the employees, contractors and suppliers who have contributed to the success of Orams Marine since its inception in 1949," he said.

Ariadne's current investment portfolio in the marine sector includes:

1. Ownership (50%) and operation of a 110-berth commercial and leisure marina on the Southport Spit, Gold Coast, Queensland. This facility includes marine service operators as tenants and operates a modern state-of-the-art high speed fuel pump system for leisure and commercial craft.
2. The Port Macquarie Marina at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales coast. A project masterplan is currently being prepared for review by the NSW Lands Department for the redevelopment and expansion of this marina. Stage 1 comprises an additional 80 wet berths and replacement of the existing 40 inner-harbour berths and a fuel capacity upgrade is to commence in the next 12 months.
3. Development rights effective 1 July 2007 have been secured from the NSW Department of Lands for the redevelopment of the Bateman's Bay marina and marine facilities complex on the New South Wales south-coast. The project will be staged over a three-year period and will have an end value of approximately $60 million. The redevelopment proposal comprises a multi-staged, mixed-use marina and tourism development project containing:


• 240 wet berths
• 250 dry stack storage facility
• Fuelling facilities, boat maintenance hard stand
• Marina, commercial and maintenance services for the marine related tenancies
• Retail and commercial facilities

Ariadne also jointly owns International Infrastructure Management Pty Ltd (IIM) with Babcock and Brown, which specialises in investment and management opportunities in port infrastructure and the marine services sector.

IIM holds an 11% shareholding in Mermaid Marine Limited ("Mermaid"), a listed Australian company which provides a range of marine related services to the oil and gas exploration and production companies operating off the west-coast of Australia.

MRM is the largest company of its type in Australia operating shore-based facilities and a fleet of off-shore servicing ships.

ENDS