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Markaz is in the final stages of launching Markaz U.S. Multifamily Realty Investment Unit IV "The Fund", a US$ 67.2 million sharia'a compliant fund that will selectively invest in the development of apartment properties in the US. BBK will be a co-sponsor of Markaz U.S Multifamily Realty Investment Unit IV in its fourth partnership with Markaz. The three earlier ones are Markaz US Industrial Realty Investment Unit – I, Markaz BBK US Retail Realty Investment Unit – II which was sold recently for approximately US $245 million delivering a gross IRR of 27%, and Markaz BBK US Retail Realty Investment Unit – III. On this occasion, Mr. Ghassan Al Sammak, Head of Investment Advisory said "We are looking forward to this partnership as always and we hope in making this a success." Mr. Sami Shabshab, President of Mar-Gulf Management Company Inc. "Mar-Gulf", the US real estate arm and wholly owned subsidiary of Markaz, stated that “this will be our fourth fund targeting real estate in the US and we hope to add to our successful track record of delivering superior returns to our investors". Mr. Shabshab added "good timing has always been a significant factor contributing to the success of our investments in the US real estate sector; we are launching this fund because we see an emerging opportunity to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in developing apartment properties in the US”. On the fundamental side, Markaz believes that the multifamily real estate sector is the largest beneficiary of the economic and demographic changes. Demand for apartments is growing, driven by: • High and volatile house prices: over the past 6 years, house prices have risen significantly, making it increasingly expensive for households to purchase homes. As a result, a greater number of households now prefer to rent apartments. • The sub-prime mortgage crisis: a rising number of defaults are leading to tighter mortgage standards, rising down-payments, fewer mortgage originations and declining housing sales. Furthermore, house prices are widely expected to fall, deterring potential buyers. These trends are leading to declining home-ownership rates. • Favorable demographics and immigration: The 20-29 age group, which is predominantly composed of renters, is expected to expand by 5.5 million over the next 10 years as the echo boomers come of age. Immigration is expected to further increase the potential renter pool by 12 million people. • Robust employment growth: Non-farm employment has increased by 8.4 million people since May 2003; translating into significant growth in potential renter population. These factors are leading to rising rents, declining vacancy rates and, as a result, strong growth in net operating income for apartment properties. Over the past three and a half years, nationwide rents in the U.S. have grown at an annual rate of 3.1% while vacancy rates have declined by 100 basis points. These trends are expected to continue in the future, with rent growth expected to average 3.4% annually over the next five years and vacancy rates to edge downwards (Source: Reis, Inc). On the capital markets side, aggressive acquisition activity by investors has led to significant compression of cap rates (initial yields), which has persisted in spite of the sub-prime crisis. Cap rates have declined by approximately 300 basis points since 2001 to reach 6% in September 2007. This has resulted in a positive and actionable spread between market values and development costs, translating into potential opportunities to generate attractive returns. In order to effectively pursue and execute opportunities in this field, Markaz has formed a partnership with Boston Capital Corporation, one of the leading owners and managers of apartment properties in the US. Their current holdings include over 158,000 multifamily apartment units with a total development cost of approximately US$ 11.5 billion. Boston Capital has executed projects and maintains strong relationships with most major multifamily developers nationwide. Markaz expects that 50% of the Fund’s anticipated capital will be invested in high quality apartment development projects prior to closing. Markaz has already invested in two seed transactions involving the construction of 344 and 240 apartment units in Seattle (WA) and Phoenix (AZ), respectively, representing 37% of the Fund’s anticipated capital. The Fund is expected to close its third transaction in December 2007, involving the construction of 212 units in Denver (CO). In addition to the investments mentioned above, Markaz has access to a strong deal flow, having reviewed 6 other potential development opportunities involving the construction of a total of 1,987 units with required equity investment in excess of US$ 72 million. Kuwait Financial Centre S.A.K. 'Markaz', with total assets under management of over USD 4.91 billion as of September 30, 2007, was established in 1974 has become one of the leading asset management and investment banking institutions in the Arabian Gulf Region. Markaz was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997; and has been awarded a BBB+ corporate rating by Capital Intelligence Ltd. -Ends- Photo caption: Mr. Sami Shabshab, President of Mar-Gulf Management Company Inc. "Mar-Gulf"Markaz is in the final stages of launching Markaz U.S. Multifamily Realty Investment Unit IV "The Fund", a US$ 67.2 million sharia'a compliant fund that will selectively invest in the development of apartment properties in the US. BBK will be a co-sponsor of Markaz U.S Multifamily Realty Investment Unit IV in its fourth partnership with Markaz. The three earlier ones are Markaz US Industrial Realty Investment Unit – I, Markaz BBK US Retail Realty Investment Unit – II which was sold recently for approximately US $245 million delivering a gross IRR of 27%, and Markaz BBK US Retail Realty Investment Unit – III. On this occasion, Mr. Ghassan Al Sammak, Head of Investment Advisory said "We are looking forward to this partnership as always and we hope in making this a success." Mr. Sami Shabshab, President of Mar-Gulf Management Company Inc. "Mar-Gulf", the US real estate arm and wholly owned subsidiary of Markaz, stated that “this will be our fourth fund targeting real estate in the US and we hope to add to our successful track record of delivering superior returns to our investors". Mr. Shabshab added "good timing has always been a significant factor contributing to the success of our investments in the US real estate sector; we are launching this fund because we see an emerging opportunity to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in developing apartment properties in the US”. On the fundamental side, Markaz believes that the multifamily real estate sector is the largest beneficiary of the economic and demographic changes. Demand for apartments is growing, driven by: • High and volatile house prices: over the past 6 years, house prices have risen significantly, making it increasingly expensive for households to purchase homes. As a result, a greater number of households now prefer to rent apartments. • The sub-prime mortgage crisis: a rising number of defaults are leading to tighter mortgage standards, rising down-payments, fewer mortgage originations and declining housing sales. Furthermore, house prices are widely expected to fall, deterring potential buyers. These trends are leading to declining home-ownership rates. • Favorable demographics and immigration: The 20-29 age group, which is predominantly composed of renters, is expected to expand by 5.5 million over the next 10 years as the echo boomers come of age. Immigration is expected to further increase the potential renter pool by 12 million people. • Robust employment growth: Non-farm employment has increased by 8.4 million people since May 2003; translating into significant growth in potential renter population. These factors are leading to rising rents, declining vacancy rates and, as a result, strong growth in net operating income for apartment properties. Over the past three and a half years, nationwide rents in the U.S. have grown at an annual rate of 3.1% while vacancy rates have declined by 100 basis points. These trends are expected to continue in the future, with rent growth expected to average 3.4% annually over the next five years and vacancy rates to edge downwards (Source: Reis, Inc). On the capital markets side, aggressive acquisition activity by investors has led to significant compression of cap rates (initial yields), which has persisted in spite of the sub-prime crisis. Cap rates have declined by approximately 300 basis points since 2001 to reach 6% in September 2007. This has resulted in a positive and actionable spread between market values and development costs, translating into potential opportunities to generate attractive returns. In order to effectively pursue and execute opportunities in this field, Markaz has formed a partnership with Boston Capital Corporation, one of the leading owners and managers of apartment properties in the US. Their current holdings include over 158,000 multifamily apartment units with a total development cost of approximately US$ 11.5 billion. Boston Capital has executed projects and maintains strong relationships with most major multifamily developers nationwide. Markaz expects that 50% of the Fund’s anticipated capital will be invested in high quality apartment development projects prior to closing. Markaz has already invested in two seed transactions involving the construction of 344 and 240 apartment units in Seattle (WA) and Phoenix (AZ), respectively, representing 37% of the Fund’s anticipated capital. The Fund is expected to close its third transaction in December 2007, involving the construction of 212 units in Denver (CO). In addition to the investments mentioned above, Markaz has access to a strong deal flow, having reviewed 6 other potential development opportunities involving the construction of a total of 1,987 units with required equity investment in excess of US$ 72 million. Kuwait Financial Centre S.A.K. 'Markaz', with total assets under management of over USD 4.91 billion as of September 30, 2007, was established in 1974 has become one of the leading asset management and investment banking institutions in the Arabian Gulf Region. Markaz was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997; and has been awarded a BBB+ corporate rating by Capital Intelligence Ltd. -Ends- Photo caption: Mr. Sami Shabshab, President of Mar-Gulf Management Company Inc. "Mar-Gulf"