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14.04.2011
LHKX PLC announces appointment of Dr Johannes Harl as Executive Chairman and Mr Simon A. Terpstra as non-Executive Director
LHKX PLC announces appointment of Dr Johannes Harl as Executive Chairman and Mr Simon A. Terpstra as non-Executive Director

London, Thursday 14th April 2011, London Hong Kong Exchange Plc (“LHKX” or “the Company”) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Johannes Harl as Executive Chairman and Mr Simon Tempstra as non-executive director, effective immediately. In addtion, Dr Harl acts as Chairman of the Investment Committee.

Dr. Johannes Harl brings a wealth of experience and an invaluable network in the international capital markets arena. He studied at the universities of Munich, East Anglia, Paris, Ohio State (PhD) in the fields of finance, business, economics and law and served as a professor at New York University Stern School of Business. Dr. Harl held senior positions with banking and investment firms in London, New York, Frankfurt, and is active in business development and structuring private equity and corporate investments in technology, real estate and financial services firms. He served as CEO of Bank Julius Baer Asset Management Germany, head of a trading joint venture of Citicorp New York, Director of HypoVereinsbank heading the Equities Division and Co-Heading the Treasury Division and at JP Morgan he served as senior manager in Global Financial Markets in New York and London.

Mr Simon Terpstra has a 20 year career in banking starting his banking career on a fast track graduate programme with ABN Amro where he held various senior management positions during the period 1986 to 1992. In 1992, he became Director Business Banking for F. van Lanschot Bankiers N.V. In 2008, Mr Terpstra co-founded 2SQR Holding B.V. a real estate and venture capital company which holds a real estate portfolio of approx. €200 million and portfolio investments in companies related to the new technology and medical sector, with a current value of approx. € 100 million.

Derek Tullett C.B.E. Hon DSc will continue as a non-executive director and Wayne Lochner as an executive director for the Company.

These new board appointments signal the completion of the transactions first identified in our press release dated 28th March 2011, which includes a capital injection of € 7.5 million combined with a re-alignment of the Company’s business plan. In addition, the Company confirms that Company with its advisors have identified the first major high performance IPO investment transaction and agreed heads of terms for the transaction which is expected to be concluded within the short term.

The re-alignment of the Company includes the recently announced intention to spin off the LHKX financial platform business IAX. The acquisition of this IAX platform was concluded on 31 January, for a consideration based on a share for share exchange for the Company’s entire shareholding in LHKX Capital AG at a value of €2.24 million. The IAX platform will be integrated in the recently acquired UK based fully FSA authorised Orange Corporate Finance Ltd (“Orange Ltd”) that was concluded on 31 March 2011.

Orange Ltd has the objective to develop the IAX platform into a leading global centralised secondary market platform for connecting professional investors to trade in a wide range of illiquid assets, and provide an exit route for investments which are currently unsupported by a vibrant secondary market, including

- Private equity funding
- Debt and equity instruments
- Private equity shareholdings
- Corporate finance transactions
- Real estate transactions
- Real estate funding
- Mineral resource reserves
- Commodities

In an article titled “Liquid Diet” published in the March 2011 edition of the ICAEW Corporate Financier magazine www.icaew.com , the 2010 global estimate of trading in illiquid assets was US$305.1bn, of which US$135.7bn was in the US market, which is mature, relatively liquid and transparent. The article also stated that the European market is still developing in terms of range and volume of illiquid assets.

The Company’s management believes that there is a significant opportunity to develop and operate a comprehensive internet-based platform to enable professional investors globally (excluding the US) to trade in a full range of illiquid assets in a centralized marketplace. The management judge that even though competition exists in certain of IAX’s business areas, there is no directly comparable player in IAX’s market landscape. One of IAX’s key objectives will be to increases the global market volume of illiquid assets traded and grab a substantial slice of the global market outside of the US.

Dr Harl commented “I am delighted to be joining the Company as executive chairman with a mandate to implement the LHKX PLC corporate re-alignment and strategy change. Our new investor group and advisors have helped us identify high performance investment opportunities that can contribute to the Company’s new strategic expectations in the short to medium term. This is an exciting time for the Company and I look forward to creating value for its stakeholders”.

About LHKX PLC:

Post realignment, LHKX PLC’s main business activity will be to actively invest and trade in new future orientated technology IPO companies (High Tech IPOs). The Company will make direct investments or invest in partnership with selected investor groups. LHKX PLC will focus on investing into future orientated technology IPOs, pre-IPOs and private equity within the following business segments.

- Next generation online businesses
- Media and entertainment
- ICT (Information and Communications Technologies)
- New industrial applications
- Industrial application improvements
- Future orientated environmental technologies


For further queries please contact:

LONDON HONG KONG EXCHANGE PLC
51-53 Great Marlborough Street
London W1F 7JT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7 193 3853
Email: press@lhkx.co.uk

The information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information". Other than statements of historical fact, all statements are "Forward-Looking Statements» that involve such various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these "Forward-Looking Statements". Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



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