Stuttgart/Berlin, 10/27/2006 - DaimlerChrysler (stock-exchange abbreviation DCX) has sold the Group's former headquarters in Stuttgart-Möhringen to IXIS Capital Partners Ltd.. DaimlerChrysler will lease back the property for a period of 15 years with the option of reducing the volume of leased floor space starting in year 11. The Group will continue to use the Stuttgart-Möhringen campus over the long term, but plans to gradually move out of other rented office space in the Stuttgart region. The persons working in those properties will then be moved to Stuttgart-Möhringen following the relocation of the Board of Management and some administrative departments from there to the new Group headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim.

 

The real estate in Stuttgart-Möhringen comprises land of 120,000 square meters with 13 buildings and approximately 107,000 square meters of rentable floor space. At present, around 2,700 people work in these buildings.

 

The cash inflow will amount to approximately EUR 240 million. The operating profit generated by the sale will be reported distributed over the years of the leaseback, in accordance with US GAAP. It will be an eight-digit figure (in euros) for each year, and will amount to EUR 18 million in the year 2006. The transfer of ownership will take place in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities, and the cash flow will also be booked in this period.

 

As a result of a review of its real-estate portfolio, DaimlerChrysler assessed the real estate in Stuttgart-Möhringen as being not required for operating purposes. The review is a part of the current activities for improving efficiency and optimizing the portfolio with the goal of increasing the Group's return on net assets (RONA).