DALLAS, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford
Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford" or the "Company") today announced
that it has commenced a follow-on public offering of 11,000,000
shares of common stock. The Company expects to grant the
underwriters of the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an
additional 1,650,000 shares of common stock.
Ashford intends to use the net
proceeds of the offering to effect the planned spin-off of Ashford
Hospitality Prime, Inc. that the Company announced on June 17, 2013, including, because of the way the
spin-off is structured, to pay the common stock dividend just for
this new share issue for the quarter ending June 30, 2013. If the spin-off is not
effected, Ashford intends to use
the net proceeds of the offering for other general corporate
purposes, including, without limitation, financing future
hotel-related investments, capital expenditures, working capital
and repayment of debt or other obligations.
BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Morgan Stanley
are acting as the joint book-running managers for the
offering. KeyBanc Capital Markets, Credit Agricole CIB and
Credit Suisse are acting as senior co-managers.
A registration statement relating to the shares is effective
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press
release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy the offered shares or any other securities, nor
will there be any sale of such shares or any other securities in
any state or other jurisdiction which such offer, solicitation, or
sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under
the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.
The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus
supplement and the related base prospectus, which have been filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the
preliminary prospectus supplement, final prospectus supplement
(when available) and the related base prospectus may be obtained
from BofA Merrill Lynch by contacting 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attention: Prospectus
Department, or email: dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com, Deutsche
Bank Securities by contacting 60 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005-2836, Attention: Prospectus
Group, or email: prospectus.cpdg@db.com, Morgan Stanley by
contacting 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, Attention: Prospectus
Department, or email: prospectus@morganstanley.com, or on the
internet site of the Securities and Exchange Commission at
www.sec.gov.
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust
(REIT) focused on investing opportunistically in the hospitality
industry across all segments and at all levels of the capital
structure primarily within in the United States.
Certain statements and assumptions in this press release
contain or are based upon "forward-looking" information and are
being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties. When we use the words "will likely result,"
"may," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "expect," "believe,"
"intend," or similar expressions, we intend to identify
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements about the terms and
size of the offering and the use of proceeds from the offering,
including the planned spin-off of Ashford Hospitality Prime,
Inc. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions and
uncertainties, many of which are outside Ashford's control.
These forward-looking statements are subject to known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without
limitation: general volatility of the capital markets and the
market price of our common stock; changes in our business or
investment strategy; availability, terms and deployment of capital;
availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and
the market in which we operate, interest rates or the general
economy; the degree and nature of our competition; and the
satisfaction of the condition to the completion of the
spin-off. These and other risk factors are more fully
discussed in Ashford's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The forward-looking statements included in this press release
are only made as of the date of this press release. Investors
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or circumstances, changes in
expectations or otherwise.
SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.