General Growth Properties, Inc. (NYSE:GGP), the country's second largest owner and developer of regional shopping centers, announced today an agreement to enter into a joint venture with Hamburg-based ECE Projektmanagement G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Europe's leading developer of urban shopping centers. Under the terms of the joint venture, the two developers have formed CURA GGP Gayrimenkul Gelistrime A.S. to invest in shopping center development and acquisitions of existing shopping centers in Turkey on a 50/50 basis, and will begin construction of their first joint project in March 2006. General Growth also has acquired from ECE 48 percent of ECE Turkiye Proje Yonetimi A.S., the leading manager of shopping centers in Turkey with currently six properties under management. Closing of the joint venture is expected shortly. "Turkey's geographic location at the junction of Europe and Asia, its size and population growth, as well as recent economic development have created tremendous opportunities for investment," said John Bucksbaum, chief executive officer of General Growth Properties. "This is a great opportunity to collaborate and invest with such an experienced development and management company as ECE."
