DALLAS, Aug. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford Hospitality
Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford Trust" or the "Company")
announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has
unanimously approved and adopted several corporate governance
enhancements including amendments to the Company's Equity
Incentive Plan. These enhancements are:
- Modification of the Company's Equity Incentive Plan to require
stock ownership by directors and officers to match the stock
ownership guidelines outlined in the current Corporate Governance
Guidelines;
- Modification of the Company's Equity Incentive Plan to require
minimum vesting periods on stock options and stock appreciation
rights issued under the plan;
- Modification of the Company's stock ownership guidelines to
increase the required share ownership for director's from three
times the director's annual board retainer fee to four times;
and
- Modification of the Company's By-laws to reduce the threshold
from 35% to 30% of outstanding shares to call a special meeting of
shareholders.
"We are committed to best practices in corporate governance and
believe that these measures should improve our QuickScore and will
further align management and the Board's interests with those of
Ashford Trust's shareholders," commented Monty J. Bennett, Ashford Trust's Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer. "Further, management and the Board
will continue to evaluate our corporate governance policies in an
effort to create even stronger alignment with our
shareholders."
Additional information concerning Ashford Trust's corporate
governance guidelines, including the enhancements announced today,
will be available on the Company's website and in a Form 8-K to be
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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.