DALLAS, April 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford
Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford Trust" or the
"Company") announced today that it has entered into a definitive
agreement to sell a 5-hotel, 1,396-room portfolio of select-service
hotels for $142 million in cash
($102,000 per key) to Noble
Investment Group ("Noble"). The portfolio is comprised of the
146-room Courtyard Edison in Edison,
NJ; the 150-room Residence Inn Buckhead in Atlanta, GA; and the 312-room Courtyard Lake
Buena Vista, 388-room Fairfield Inn Lake Buena Vista and 400-room
Springhill Suites Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, FL. The three Orlando properties are managed by Marriott and
the other two properties are managed by Remington Lodging.
The purchase price, including projected capex to be invested by
Noble, represents a trailing 12-month cap rate of 8.0% on net
operating income. On a trailing 12-month basis, the portfolio
achieved RevPAR of $84, with
occupancy of 79% and Average Daily Rate of $106. The portfolio has an existing debt balance
of approximately $98 million, and the
Company expects the net proceeds from the disposition to be
approximately $37 million after debt
repayment and transaction costs. The Company intends to use the net
proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes including net
debt reduction, stock buybacks, or the acquisition of full-service
hotels in line with the Company's refined investment strategy. The
transaction is scheduled to close in the second quarter, subject to
certain closing conditions.
"We are pleased to announce this sale as it provides a positive
first step in our announced strategy of divesting of our non-core,
select-service assets," said Monty J.
Bennett, Ashford Trust's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. "We will continue to pursue the sale of these hotels
with a focus on maximizing value for our shareholders."
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.
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SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.