DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford
Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford Trust" or the
"Company") announced today that it has successfully refinanced
three mortgage loans with existing balances of approximately
$268 million. The previous
mortgage loans that were refinanced include:
- $91 million UBS 2 loan with a
final maturity date in December
2015
- $103 million Merrill 2 loan with
a final maturity date in February
2016
- $74 million Merrill 7 loan with a
final maturity date in February
2016
The new loan totals $375 million
and resulted in excess proceeds of approximately $81 million after closing costs and
reserves. The next hard debt maturity for the Company is in
April 2017.
The Company also announced that it is no longer marketing the
24-hotel select-service hotel portfolio as a single portfolio, but
will instead pursue the sale of these assets in smaller groups and
individually. Further, the Company will pursue the
opportunistic sales of its other 38 select-service hotels over
time. This past quarter, over a very short period of time,
the market for large portfolios of select-service assets changed
dramatically, resulting in reduced bids that the Company's
management and Board of Directors believe does not capture the full
portfolio value for shareholders. The refined sales process
in the form of smaller portfolios and/or individual assets is
expected to garner higher values in the current market
environment.
"We are pleased to close this refinancing which addressed our
remaining 2015 debt maturity as well as all of our 2016 debt
maturities," said Monty J. Bennett,
Ashford Trust's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This
increased financial flexibility, coupled with the significant
excess proceeds, meaningfully improves our liquidity
position."
Mr. Bennett continued, "Consistent with our commitment to
maximize value for our shareholders, we believe the best course of
action is to exercise patience and pursue an opportunistic sales
approach in an effort to capture full value for our attractive
portfolio of select-service hotels. We are fully committed to
our refined investment strategy of focusing on upper upscale,
full-service hotels and given the industry-leading insider
ownership at Ashford Trust, this management team is highly aligned
with investors to maximize shareholder value."
Regarding the refinancing, the previous mortgage loans were
refinanced through one new mortgage loan pool with a two-year
initial term and four one-year extension options, subject to the
satisfaction of certain conditions. The loan is interest only
and provides for a floating interest rate of LIBOR + 4.87%.
The loan is secured by seventeen hotels: Sheraton City Center
Indianapolis, Hilton Houston Nassau Bay, Hilton St. Petersburg
Waterfront, Embassy Suites Palm Beach, Embassy Suites Houston
Galleria, Courtyard Crystal City Arlington, Courtyard Alpharetta,
Courtyard Foothill Ranch, Residence Inn Falls Church, Residence Inn
San Diego Sorrento Mesa, Embassy Suites Austin Arboretum, Embassy
Suites Dallas Galleria, Embassy Suites Las Vegas Airport, Courtyard
Bloomington, Hampton Inn Evansville, Residence Inn Evansville, and
Hilton Garden Inn Jacksonville. The Company was also able to
structure attractive release provisions in the event the Company
wishes to sell any of the hotels encumbered by the financing.
Through this refinancing, the SpringHill Suites Jacksonville is now
unencumbered by debt.
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust
(REIT) focused on investing opportunistically in the hospitality
industry in upper upscale, full-service hotels.
Follow Chairman and CEO Monty
Bennett on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBennettAshford or
@MBennettAshford.
Ashford has created an Ashford App for the hospitality REIT
investor community. The Ashford App is available for free
download at Apple's App Store and
the Google Play Store by searching "Ashford."
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 statements are subject to
numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside
Ashford Trust'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; and the degree and nature of our competition. These
and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Ashford Trust'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.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ashford-trust-completes-refinancing-resulting-in-approximately-81-million-of-excess-proceeds-and-announces-refined-sales-process-for-select-service-hotel-portfolio-300208858.html
SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.