Contacts:
Kate Sinclair, Media & Marketing Assistant, London (+ 44 20 7655 5986)

London, 23 May 2005 — Shearman & Sterling advised Yates Bidco Limited on its acquisition of Yates Group Limited from GI Partners for approximately £ 200m. Yates is the holding company for the Yates and Santa Fe bar businesses.

The operating and property owning businesses of Yates Group have been respectively combined with the operating and property owning businesses of the Laurel High Street Pub Estate acquired from Mid-Oceans in December 2004. The enlarged group has been created by R20 Limited whose Chairman is Robert Tchenguiz.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by Iain Goalen together with Raminder Singh leading respectively the property and finance teams.