1 The Singapore Land Authority (“SLA”) (新加坡土地管理局, 简称土管局) has awarded Vita Holdings Limited’s (“Vita” or “the Group”) (伟达控股有限公司) wholly-owned subsidiary, Whitehouse Holdings (白宫控股有限公司), the State property at 175A Chin Swee Road for use as a boutique business hotel. This is the first State property tenanted out by SLA with the niche use as a mid-tier hotel. This is also Vita’s first hotel property, thereby marking the expansion of its property leasing and management portfolio into hotel management. The tenure of the lease is for an initial term of 3 years and is renewable on terms up to 2016.

2 The Group will invest S$6 million to refurbish the 12-storey building, formerly the Pearl's Hill Primary School, into a 130-room boutique business hotel. Located just three minutes from the heart of the central business district, the 130-room property with a rental price of $82,178.00 per month is poised to provide a balance of privacy and comfort with stylish and understated ambience. There will be F&B and conference/ seminar/ training rooms and surrounding playfields at the site. There will also be a landscape garden with an outdoor refreshment area. Slated to be opened by end 2007, the boutique business hotel will target frequent individual business travellers and is expected to benefit from its excellent location within the business district as well as Singapore's status as the region's leading business and financial centre. Please see Annex A.

3 The new property will increase Vita's current portfolio to 13 properties. Out of the 13, nine are leased from Singapore Land Authority. Many of these properties are tenanted out for hostel, office, business and commercial uses. The Group will finance the investment through internal funds and/ or bank borrowings. The hotel is not expected to have any significant impact on the financials of the Group in the current financial year.

4 The State property has an estimated land area of 10,500 square metres that is equivalent to about one and a-quarter football fields and gross floor area of about 5,800 square metres. Please refer to Annexes B and C.

5 In picking the winning bid, SLA considered amongst other factors, the tender prices, concepts, proposed uses, track record and the financial health of the company. Whitehouse Holdings submitted the highest tender price, over five other companies. Please see Annex D for the full tender schedule.

6 Said Ms Christine Sim (沈宝叶), Executive Chairman of Vita: “We are elated with this new development. The heritage state property presents us with an opportunity to expand our scope of operations and our property portfolio. Equally important is the excellent location of the property which is in the heart of the city and next to the Pearl’s Hill City Park at a corner of Chinatown. The State property will be given a new lease of life. The expertise and experience culled from managing our hostels will form the backbone of our hotel management operations. Our move in this business direction is timely, given the increasing overseas traveller arrivals and the changing needs of frequent business travellers. We are confident that our entry into the hotel management business will be successful and be the prelude of our continued expansion in all our business areas. ”

7 On developing the first State property into a hotel, SLA’s Director of Land Operations (土地咨询商业处长), Mr Simon Ong (王汉龙), said, “175A Chin Swee Road has a good location and purpose-built facilities. This building with a rich heritage can be easily adapted into the hotel that we have in mind, at lower start-up costs. The versatility of our State properties are recently shown in their adaptive reuse which help boost sectors in agri-tainment, education, lifestyle, the arts and now in hospitality and tourism. We will continue to work with the relevant agencies to identify more sites in favourable locations for hotel uses.”

Jointly issued by:
Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Vita Holdings Limited
28 February 2007

Annex A: Artist's impressions/ plans of boutique business hotel (Source: Whitehouse Holdings)
Annex B: Map of 175A Chin Swee Road (Source: Singapore Land Authority)
Annex C: Photograph of State property at 175A Chin Swee Road (Source: Singapore Land Authority)
Annex D: List of tenderers (Source: Singapore Land Authority)

Media Contacts

From SLA
Wang Hui Ling
Corporate Communications
Tel: 6323 9116, Hp: 9823 1479
E-mail: Wang_Hui_Ling@sla.gov.sg

Susan Koh
Corporate Communications
Tel: 6323 8105, Hp: 9829 1906
E-mail: Susan_Koh@sla.gov.sg.

From Whitehouse Holdings Pte Ltd
Lynn Sim Finance
Administrative Manager
Tel: 6227 9817, 9109 3781
Email: lynn.sim@vitaholdings.com

Kwek Siew Hwee
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 6227 9817, 9111 7137
Email: siewhwee.kwek@vitaholdings.com

Sidebar story 1:Former State school sites turned into other uses
Former school buildings have also been adapted and reused for other purposes.

As art venues
These properties are currently tenanted to the National Arts Council (NAC) on a 3+3+3 year renewable term:

Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC) at 182 Cecil St
Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society at 2A Starlight Road (Former Rangoon Primary School)
Stamford Arts Centre at 155 Waterloo St

As foreign universities and international educational institutions
Under a partnership scheme between the Economic Development Board (EDB) and SLA, the EDB-Global Schoolhouse, vacant schools are easily adapted into foreign universities and international educational institutions at lower start-up costs.

As hostels/ dormitories
Here are some hostels that are operating in State properties:

Katong Hostel at No 369 Katong Road
Vita Hostel at 50 Carlisle Road
Pearl Hill Hostel at No 5 Pearl Hill Road
Cambridge Hostel at No 155 Owen Road

These State properties were secured through open tenders conducted by SLA. They have undergone some minor refurbishment and extension of existing facilities, transforming each property into a warm and homely abode to foreign students, second to their own hometowns.

Sidebar story 2: Other State properties tenanted by Vita Holdings
Vita Holdings Limited has successfully transformed nine other State properties into other uses. The State properties are:

For office use

The White house at Maxwell Road
T-Junction Building at 5 Kadayanallur Road
9 Shenton Way
Wallich Building at 32 Wallich Street

For warehouse use

The Central Warehouse at Depot Lane
1 Pasir Panjang Road
82, 84, 86 Jalan Benaan Kapal (managed by SLA's agent)

For warehouse use

Vita Hostel at 50 Carlisle Road

For entertainment use

2 Mackenzie Road, former Rex Cinema, transformed into a discotheque and nightclub

For more details, please visit Vita's website at http://www.vitaholdings.com/prop_O9shenton.htm

About Whitehouse Holdings Pte Ltd

A wholly owned subsidiary of Vita Holdings Limited, Whitehouse Holdings manages the Group's Whitehouse Building, Pasir Panjang Road warehouse properties and a retail unit in Jurong East Town Centre.

About Vita Holdings Limited

Established in 1998 and listed on the Singapore Exchange, Vita is a diversified group with property leasing and management, shipping and coal trading interests. It currently owns and charters out 10 vessels and leases and manages 13 strategically located properties in Singapore. These properties are used for a variety of purpose, including dormitories, hostels, warehouses and offices. In 2006, the Group took a strategic 51% interest in J.L. Chancellor Pte Ltd. JLC has previously entered into a joint venture agreement with PT Nusantara Rimbayu Coal to jointly develop, mine and trade in three coal mines, located in Samarinda and Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

About SLA

Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board with the Ministry of Law. Its mission is to optimise land resources for the economic and social development of Singapore. SLA is responsible for the direct management of some 14,000 hectares of State land and about 5,000 buildings. It is also in charge of land sales, leases, acquisitions and allocation, developing and marketing land-related information, and maintaining the national land information database through digitised land information services. SLA is also the national land registration authority for property transactions, and the issuance and guarantee of land titles in Singapore. It also manages and maintains the national land survey system, including the defining of boundaries or legal limits of properties based on a coordinated cadastre survey system. For more details, visit www.sla.gov.sg.