DALLAS, Nov. 6, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT)
("Ashford Trust" or the "Company") announced today that it has
entered into an amendment to its strategic financing that will
reduce the exit fee from 15.0% to 12.5% of the original loan
balance through December 15, 2024,
provided that the outstanding loan balance has been reduced to
$50 million or less by November 15, 2024.
The strategic financing represents the Company's only fully
recourse debt obligation, and this amendment represents the latest
in a series of targeted initiatives undertaken by the Company to
complete repayment of that obligation. In January of this year, the
Company announced its plan to pay off its strategic financing,
which includes raising sufficient capital through a combination of
asset sales, mortgage debt refinancings, and non-traded preferred
capital raising.
"We are pleased to provide this update on the plan to pay off
our strategic financing and the significant progress that we've
made," said Stephen Zsigray, Ashford
Trust's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Despite a difficult
hotel transaction and financing market, we have carefully executed
on the plan that we laid out earlier this year, and we plan to
close a few additional transactions in the coming weeks that would
enable us to completely pay off this financing."
The Company has made significant progress on this plan with
year-to-date asset sales of approximately $311 million and the refinancing of the
Renaissance Nashville hotel, which generated approximately
$17 million in excess proceeds while
also unencumbering the Westin Princeton. Since the launch of its
non-traded preferred capital raise, the Company has raised
approximately $173 million of gross
proceeds. The Company has closes on its non-traded preferred every
other week and is using a portion of the proceeds raised in each
close to pay down its strategic financing.
The current outstanding balance on the strategic financing is
approximately $82 million, a 59%
reduction from the original principal balance.
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust
(REIT) focused on investing predominantly in upper upscale,
full-service hotels.
Forward-Looking Statements
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 federal
securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are generally
identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "may,"
"will," "should," "potential," "intend," "expect," "anticipate,"
"estimate," "approximately," "believe," "could," "project,"
"predict," or other similar words or expressions. Additionally,
statements regarding the following subjects are forward-looking by
their nature: our business and investment strategy; anticipated or
expected purchases, sales or dispositions of assets; our projected
operating results; completion of any pending transactions; our plan
to pay off strategic financing; our ability to restructure existing
property-level indebtedness; our ability to secure additional
financing to enable us to operate our business; our understanding
of our competition; projected capital expenditures; the impact of
technology on our operations and business; the risk that the notice
and noncompliance with NYSE continued listing standards may impact
the Company's results of operations, business operations and
reputation and the trading prices and volatility of the Company's
common stock; and the Company's ability to regain compliance with
the NYSE continued listing standards. Such forward-looking
statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations
of our future performance taking into account all information
currently known to us. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations
can change as a result of many potential events or factors, not all
of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business,
financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans, and
other objectives may vary materially from those expressed in our
forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider this risk
when you make an investment decision concerning our securities.
These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in the
Company's filings with the SEC.
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 will not publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or circumstances, changes in expectations or
otherwise except to the extent required by law.
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SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.