Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. said its board is exploring possible strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of the luxury hotel company.

Shares rose 4.5% to $14.55 in recent premarket trading.

In a news release Monday, Strategic Hotels Chairman and Chief Executive Raymond L. Gellein stated that while the REIT was confident in its strategic plan, the company also is "always open to ways in which we can further maximize shareholder value."

The move comes less than a week after billionaire Bill Gates's investment firm Cascade Investment Inc. disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had acquired 1.7 million shares of the real-estate investment trust, bringing its stake to 9.8%. Cascade also indicated it was interested in approaching Strategic about a potential takeover or other deal, following news reports that Strategic was exploring a potential sale transaction.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Strategic Hotels recently began a review of its options, including a possible sale of the company.

Chicago-based Strategic Hotels owns many luxury properties, including the Essex House overlooking Manhattan's Central Park and the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. It owns a number of Four Seasons properties as well, including hotels in Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, and a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

In recent years, Cascade has stocked up on high-end hotels, too. The firm acquired a stake in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in San Francisco and Four Seasons Hotels in Houston, Atlanta and Punta Mita, Mexico. Cascade is a co-owner, with Saudi Arabia's Prince al-Waleed bin Talal's investment vehicle, of the Four Seasons Hotel management company.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2015 09:05 ET (13:05 GMT)

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